I'm with the band!
by Ayashi Tetsuko
Summary: Things that happened when a young writer decides to write a biography of the hottest rock band there in the country, The Shiseitens.
1. Chapter I: The Project

standard disclaimer applied (starting to get bored of typing new ones)

**I'm with the Band!**

**Chapter I**

Shiina Yuya just did not understand what made her do this at the first time.

Alright, it was obvious that she first did this for the sake of her rising career; she is a journalist and new author that everyone in Tokyo is currently talking about, thanks to her written biography of Izumono Okuni, an infamous Playboy model with a unique and mysterious personality. The book was like no other; it is written in a creative, pop-like way that made readers felt as if they had some coffee talks with the model herself. It was definitely a career boost, and apart from her feature-writing job in a popular female magazine, she decided to make writing biography a serious career option. In order to achieve it, she need a follow-up to her first book, something that is at least as good and as interesting and as quirky as her first work.

When she first mention to her good friend Beni Tora, that day in Starbucks just after a tiring photo-shoot in Shibuya, that she intended to create another new book, her friend gave an unexpected suggestion.

"Yuya, why don't you write about The Shiseitens?" asked Tora, stirring his cup of coffee.

Yuya sipped her cup. "That popular rock band? The one with the gloomy lyrics, and old-fashioned rock style?" Yuya tried to imitate the way the singer's sang.

"Old-fashion, yes, their music is strongly influenced by The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Janis Joplin, but they're great! And they have this unique traits about them… did you know that their vocalist is actually a guy?" Tora happily talked about the band. Judging from the picture in his T-shirt, and that red bandana on his head, he understood pretty well about the J-rock industry.

Yuya dropped her spoon. "No way…!"

"Yes, it's true! And their front man and guitarist also has his own record label and clothing-line… and their pianist was once trained in the national orchestra! They're interesting, and quirky, just like Okuni… it would be great to write about them!" Tora has forgot to breathe as he continued to talk.

Yuya nodded. "Yes, Tora! That would surely be nice! Now I just have to create a good concept and find a contact, then offer them my concept…"

Tora smiled arrogantly. "That wouldn't be a prob. The guitarist? Kyo? He's a good buddy of mine back then in high school. And we're still pretty close," he folded his arms in front of his body. "I'll give you their contact number."

Yuya screamed happily. "That's very kind of you!! Thanks, Tora!"

But before she realized it, Tora grabbed his camera and quickly took a picture of smiling Yuya. "No problem. I already got my payment."

Tora, who had a crush on Yuya but was rejected years ago, knows really well that Yuya hates being photographed without her consent.

Today, just weeks after that life-turning conversation in the coffee shop, Yuya found herself sitting nicely at the backstage of The Shiseitens show, in a rock club somewhere downtown. The club was not really big, and the fact that a band as big as The Shiseitens would perform today on its stage, had made audiences exploded to maximum capacity, and the sound of their screaming can be heard clearly in the artists' room.

The artists' room was not really big, and the moment Yuya arrived in that room, she had began to feel uncomfortable. Cigarette smokes were everywhere (_Great, the last thing I need,_ Yuya thought), and the coffee table was crammed with snacks and beers. In the other side of the room, there was a table full of the band members' things, where in front of it, the band's drum player, Bontenmaru, was using a chair as his drums, warming up for the performance. Beside him, Hotaru, the bass player, was practicing with his bass guitar. There was also a big mirror with lots of light bulbs on its frame, where the lead singer, Akari, was putting his make-up on. Akira, the pianist, was talking on the phone to someone. Accompanying Yuya sitting on the gigantic, hard couch is the band manager, Sanada Yukimura.

He was an elegant man who knows how to please a girl, and looks and smells really great. His jet-black hair was layered, long and sleek –Yuya suspected that his hair went to the hairdresser more often than hers. He wore a white shirt that was half-opened, revealing his smooth chest, and a dark-colored jeans and boots. He smelled like Calvin Klein, and it made Yuya felt messy as a girl –she wore a purple t-shirt with artistic designs, a black cardigan, blue jeans, and she also had this green postman bag, with her straight blonde hair in a low ponytail as usual. As they talk, Sanada put his head on his hands lazily, while watching Yuya talk with this admiring look, making Yuya felt as if she was out in a date with a gigolo or something. But he was really nice.

"As you can see, Yuya-san, we rarely had gigs in this kind of places… but the boys insisted to take this job, they really love the atmosphere of these kind of places… what options do I have but to make them happy?" Sanada talks, moving his hands lightly. "Besides, it would be good to prepare them for our big tour."

Yuya sipped her can of beer –she was careful not to drink too much, as she was here for work. "That would be interesting. I'm really looking forward to that tour, it would be one of the crucial point of my book."

"Really? Yeah, about the book project…," Sanada paused for a while. "Oh, here comes Kyo!"

Yuya heard a door being shut. As she turned her head, out from the bathroom, is the band's guitarist and frontman, Kyo. He was wearing a black t-shirt, a torn jeans, and Adidas shoes, his look was casual with some rock-gothic touch. As he saw Yuya, he gave a cynical smile and reached out his hand to shake with hers. "Shiina Yuya? I'm Kyo."

"Hi, I'm Yuya. Nice to meet you, Kyo," Yuya said, shaking hands with Kyo, suddenly felt slightly nervous.

Kyo grabbed a chair and sat in front of Yuya, facing her.

"So, you are the one who called two days ago, a friend of Tora, eh?" Kyo lit his cigarette as he talks.

"Yes, we work in the same magazine…," answered Yuya, a big sweatdrop appeared on her head. _Yes, I've called YOU two days ago, which means our appointment could be made easier. But why do you have to throw me away to your manager, and now we have to meet in such a loud and smoky place? Celebrities. Ah. Never mind_, Yuya nagged in her mind.

"So, let's just get to the point. I prefer to be straight forwarded when it comes to business…," Kyo blew some smokes from his cigarette. "I heard that you have something to offer us."

"Yes!" answered Yuya. With big spirit, she got her computer out and turn it on. A few seconds later, she turned her computer around, so that either Sanada or Kyo could see it clearly. There she has made a Power Point presentation on her book concept.

"So what I would like to do is to make a biography of you guys, the Shiseitens. And this would not be just another biography; it's not going to be boring, it's not going to be like a history book. It's going to be more of an adventure novel," Yuya explained confidently. "I have made some research about you guys. And I found out that next month you are going to held a national tour, and it is an important one, as it is going to promote your new album and celebrate your sixth anniversary as a band."

"I think it would be appropriate to capture every moments of this fantastic tour, good and bad, every single one of them, in my book as a way for you and your fans to interact," Yuya continued. "Because I, and everyone in Japan, notices that you guys are a unique band. Your music, your personalities, your success. I believe that you guys have stories to tell, and your fans are eager to found out about it."

"So, you are going to write about the band's journey in the tour? It would be more like a travel story then… where are you going to put the history of the band, the biographical bits?" asked Sanada, looking skeptical. While Sanada made critical comments, Kyo just sat still, puffing smokes.

Yuya smiled. "Sanada-san, have you ever read Harry Potter?"

Sanada seemed a bit surprised. "Why, sure… who haven't?"

"In that book, we can see how the character moved along with the storyline in a linear way; facing up to the future, enduring upcoming issues. But along the way, as the character moves to meet his future, his pasts are being open up as well, through the small details that he found on the journey," Yuya explained. "And this book is going to be just like that. I am going to make records of your journey. But along the way, I will also made interviews with you guys and found out about your history, the band's history and each of you. And then as I edit the book, I will insert it nicely among the journey's tales."

"That sounds nice! Then it would really feel as if the readers really made a journey with us, and chatted with us during flights or stuffs!" Sanada commented, seemed happy with the concept. Kyo remained quiet, watching the presentation closely.

Yuya bit her lips happily. "Correct. And I'm pretty sure that I have the right skills for it. I also bring you guys some references," she took a copy of Okuni's biography out from her bag, putting it on the table. "This is my first book, _and Her Poise was Made of Secrets_. It has received some good critics and stayed on the best-seller for two weeks."

Sanada made a loud "oh!" sound, and picked up the book. "I've read this one, only the first two chapters though… but I would definitely read more, if only I had more free time! So it was you who wrote it… nice…."

Finally Kyo made some moves. "Honestly, I like your ideas. And it's such a great coincidence, I've been thinking about creating a book about us in these past weeks. And then suddenly you came. Great," Kyo muttered. "So what do you say, Sanada, eh?"

"I'd say, we should make a deal with this lady. I believe that this would be a good marketing strategy. It would be another good range of merchandise for the fans; and for those who are not, it will help to attract them," said Sanada.

Kyo gave his trademark cynical smile. "Well then, Yuya. It's a deal then."

He reached out his hand to shake with hers again, which she shook happily. "Oh no, Kyo, it is I who is most grateful!"

Sanada started to moves busily and muttered about "the perfect day to sign the deal".

"I'm glad that we can finally put our story to print. You see, this band, is everything for me…," said Kyo, watching his fellow band mates doing their things. "It's what I've been dreaming of, and they also help me to reach the other dreams that I had…"

"Like Tenro Records and Red Eye Clothing?" asked Yuya, lifting her eyebrows.

Kyo sucks his cigarettes. "So you already know quite well. Great. I think we can get a lot from you." He put his cigarette away.

"And you're also pretty cute!!" Kyo yelled, and began to hug Yuya from behind, and started to tickle the girl's body.

"No, don't…," Yuya shouted, but her voice was drowned with a loud banging of the artists' room door.

It was opened, and this lady, carrying a clipboard and walkie-talkie, entered the room. "Attention, guys!! Ten minutes to show. Please come with me!"

"Okay, thanks, Kosuke!" shouted Bontenmaru. He and Hotaru got up, and Hotaru put his bass guitar on the table, and walked away without it. "Take it with you, idiot, you're goin' to perform!" Bontenmaru slapped the boy's head.

Akari posed in front of the mirror, making sure that he looked just fine for the show. Akira hang up and closed his mobile phone's flip, and put it safely in his bag. And much to Yuya's relief, Kyo finally let go of her and grabbed his guitar, and joined his friends to the stage.

Still panting for breath, Yuya felt someone tapped her shoulder. "Would you like to see them in action?" Sanada asked with a grin in his face.

The next moment Yuya found herself roaming the club's room, searching for the VIP seats that are especially reserved for Sanada. The room was really full of people; the smell of beers and cigarettes are in the air, and Yuya suspected there might be some weed as well. The crowd, who dress up in the way Japanese rock fans would, stood in a neat line, yet it still made Yuya felt breathless. Finally Sanada found their seats, and took her hand and brought her to where she (supposed to) belonged.

The VIP was comfortable; it was in form of comfy coaches, with coffee tables, and their location was slightly higher than the dance-floor where the crowd stood. Yuya can see the stage clearly, without having to stand on the tip of her feet. There were also some popcorns and drinks as well. "Ah! A good spot, isn't it?" Sanada sighed, letting himself fell to the couch. "Yes. Actually, I haven't been to any rock concert before. My musical taste was pretty much pop," said Yuya, sitting comfortably. "What! Well, you really have to join in our tour then!" Sanada shouted.

Just before Yuya had time to answer him, all the lights in the room suddenly went out. Some people were jeering and clapping and pointing to the stage, and the next moment, the sound of a piano could be heard.

It was melodious, and very pleasant to hear. Yuya thought of walking in the streets of Tokyo in summer as she listened to it, until suddenly, the beatings of a drum could be heard, and the music changed. Into rock. Pure rock.

"My, what the…," she was shocked by the change, totally unprepared for it.

Then she heard someone yelled on the stage. And all the lights returned.

Akari stood in front of the stage, walking in the most snobbish manner ever. He was followed by Kyo, rocking his guitar wildly. Akira was in the corner of the stage, busy with his electric piano, while Hotaru was in the other side of the stage, dancing mindlessly to the music as he played his bass guitar. And Bontenmaru was at the middle of the stage, a powerful background with his drum sets.

_Did you see my summer passed like an orange turned into dust? You love me like the waves love the shore, you threw my life like a girl who hates her lover, a lover, oh!_

Akari sings, his voices was kind of girly but it also has a certain depth in it, that Yuya cannot help but to adore. Along the song, there were some moments where Kyo helped doing the chorus bits, and Yuuya could tell, from the way the fans reacted, that Kyo is indeed the front-man of the band. Girls loved him, boys idolized him. All revealed nothing but the charm this man has, and Yuuya felt slighty in awe of it.

The first song ended. Akari greeted the audience happily.

"_Konbanwa, minnaaaaaaaaaaaa…_," his girly voice roared through the air. The crowds cheered. "It's great to be back here in 7th Heaven…," he said, while trying to fixed his messy hair.

"It reminded us of the day we got started, when we're just a group of eager musicians…," the crowd cheered again. "… and Bon was much skinnier back then, and Akira was this starving, geeky student in Toudai…," Akari told her stories.

"Shut up!" yelled Akira from behind his piano.

"Well, alright then. We had this small demo tape…," Akari continued to go on smoothly.

While he was talking to the audiences from the stage, Yuya breathed a sigh of relief. The first song was a bit too heavy for her taste, and her ear felt exhausted after it. "Phew! That song was a bit too heavy for my hearings… but I believe it was good, the crowd seemed to enjoy it," commented Yuya. "Really? Well, you really need a musical orientation, girl, I began to wonder what is inside your iPod…," replied Sanada, looking concerned.

"Stevie Wonder?" replied Yuya with a puzzled face.

Suddenly a sound of guitar rocking could be heard again, and Yuya turned, her ears are ready to face another attack of rock tunes. But something different came out. Instead of banging sounds that Kyo's guitar was expected to made, the music turned out to be pretty moderate. Rocky, but still great for accompanying yourself on a cozy walk on the city's park. And much to her surprise, Yuya enjoyed it.

"I think this one is my favorite…," yelled Yuya, trying to talk to Sanada. He did not answered, seeming to be lost in thoughts, enjoying the sounds the band made. Yuya turned her attention to the crowds instead, and found a rather similar view of fans dancing happily in an almost trance-like ambience.

She then turned to the stage, could see how Kyo seemed to really enjoy himself. Or maybe the company of his guitar and the music that he made. There were times were he smiled passionately or even laugh or sing, and his eyes were seemed to be gleaming with light.

Yuya was stunned. His eyes were gleaming with this scarlet gaze.

Somehow, somewhere deep in her heart, Yuya knew that this would be the most interesting project she ever did.


	2. Chapter II: The Tour

**Chapter II: The Tour**

Weeks went by, the agreement that Yuya made between her and the management team of The Shiseitens went on really well. She signed the deal in the management team's office, where as soon as she finished signing the paper and shook hands with Sanada, Kyo suddenly grabbed her body and tickled her again. The next thing she knew, Yuya was sitting in a bus, becoming a part of The Shiseitens' national tour (hurray!).

It was a rather big group; they left with three buses and one big truck especially used to carry their equipments. Yuya sat on the first bus, where the band members sat and relaxed, and she totally adored the comfort and luxury the bus got to offer. There are two beds that Akira and Hotaru fought over, a big television set completed with PlayStation, a fridge crammed with junk foods and Akari's supplies of non-fat snacks, and a comfortable couch where Yuya sat, altogether with Akari, with Hotaru mindlessly watched over them. Kyo was sitting at the other end of the couch, busily talking to someone on the phone, with his computer on his lap. Bontenmaru was happily slapping Akira in the face for losing again in a virtual football match. And Tora, whom Yuya finally decided should go with her in this tour and helped with the documentation, was busy taking pictures of the whole happy situation. Every minutes, Yuya wrote everything that she saw on a small notepad, as a tool to record the material for her upcoming book.

Akari was attacking Yuya with her stories, on how she decided to finally wear this flowery dress instead of that comfortable loose pants, until she finally caught a glimpse of Yuya's nails. "Oh my God! It's really pretty! What color is that?" she gasped, examining Yuya's fingers.

"It's baby pink or something. I got it from a friend. She knew a great place which sell lotsa cute things like this, I'll give you their address," Yuya replied happily. She was glad to meet Akari, whom she can related to pretty well. Akari, a _visual kei_ devotee who dresses up as a girl, understands a good deal of girly things, even though he is a he. This was comforting for Yuya. She had tried to imagine living with these guys for months, and she did not like the images that she saw in her mind.

Suddenly Hotaru interrupted. "So, Yuya-san… you actually made a living out of writing?"

Yuya lifted her eyebrows. "Well… We can say so. I'm a journalist, working in a magazine. And I also write books, which is why I'm here," answered Yuya, looking a bit puzzled. Somehow she felt that the question, and the way Hotaru asked it, was a little bit strange.

Hotaru looked as if he was thinking really hard, his eyes stared at Yuya and he made this mumbling sound. Suddenly he punched his palm with his fist. "So… you're just like a typist! You write and you get money from it," he said, pointing at Yuya, his gaze still as empty as usual.

"Actually, no! It's pretty different. Typist, they were like… well… they just type… write down things that they are told to. As for me, I did more than just that. I decided what to write, and make research for it…," Yuya tried her best to explain the meaning of the profession to the seemingly clueless Hotaru. _Off course it was more than just 'typing'_, she thought. _I did not graduate from Tokyo University just to type! Is he dumb or something?_

Hotaru nodded, yet Yuya could not tell if he really got her point or not. In fact, she began to think that something is really weird about the question he asked, especially in the way he asked it. Hotaru seemed to be… it is hard to say it, but something seemed to be wrong in him. He was like a child, the one with a developmental problem. And Yuya does not have a right feeling about it. She cannot really put her hand on it, but she had this feeling that something bad could possibly happen due to these characteristics of him.

She turned to Akari for advice, but before she could say anything, Akari tapped her shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry. Hotaru's a bit weird, but once you get to know him, he can be really nice," he said it with a smile. "And he'll be fine, don't worry. He always managed to escape troubles."

Yuya smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Kyo's voice suddenly interrupt. "Hey, guys! Check this out!"

All heads turned towards his direction. Kyo had ended the phone-call, and was turning the direction of his computer towards his band mates. He was smiling mysteriously, and there was a proud look in his expression. "You gotta check this out. This is the design for our latest merchandising range, produced by my clothing line, Red Eye."

Everyone gathered in front of the computer, and there were sounds of "Ooh…" and "Ah…" made. Yuya struggled to squeeze herself in, and was finally able to made it when Bontenmaru realized that he covered her up and moved away. Then she began to examine the design shown on the computer screen.

There were pictures of T-shirts, caps, sweatshirts, and even umbrellas, most of them are colored black. On the back side of these clothes was a picture of the band's mascot, a red cross with bat wings on its side. On the front side, there were the band's name written in Kanji characters. The merchandising range was pretty good, but Yuya found that some improvements need to be made.

"Wow, it's really nice, Kyo! But I think you better erased those Kanji characters. It doesn't match the Gothic style you're trying to portray. At least you have to change the font. Or don't use Kanjis," said Yuya.

Suddenly, everyone went silent.

Akari looked as if he was trying to say something, his expression seemed worried, but he was interrupted by Kyo. "So you think you know better, eh?"

Yuya opened her mouth. A bit panic, she realized that Kyo seemed offended by her critics. "Oh, that's not it… I was just giving comments…"

"Your comments are not needed. I'm the CEO of the clothing line, I made the whole concept, and I work my ass off to make it real. Therefore, my decisions are final. And no smart-ass brat tried to comment on my works," Kyo said coldly.

Yuya folded her arms in front of her body. "Well, excuse me, I was just giving some comments, as I believe we're all living in a free country. But you… well, you had problems with it!? I don't think that was appropriate," she said, one of her hands moved around wildly. She can feel her heart beat faster, and her face started to burn with rage.

Kyo gave a sinister laugh. "That's not the point, missy."

"Well, the point is, you're being so arrogant that you think no one should criticized you," Yuya fired back.

"They're fighting," Hotaru suddenly interrupted.

"Why don't you just shut up, dogface?" Kyo replied, looking annoyed.

That really hit it. Yuya stood up, her face was red with anger. Her fists were clutched tightly, and she was struggling to say, "W-what did you…."

Immediately, Kyo put his computer aside, ready to start a fight. The situation grew tense, and flames of anger started to sparks between them…

Until Bontenmaru broke in.

"Hey, hey! What is this!?" he yelled. His loud voice made everyone stopped and stare at him, including Kyo and Yuya. "Could you guys just calm down!?"

Then Kyo returned to his seat, and Yuya ran to the toilet, followed by Akari.

An hour later, they stopped at a famous fast food restaurant for lunch. After making an effort to escape groups of fans asking for autographs, they finally made it to the counter, place their order, and returned to their tables with the well-anticipated lunch.

Yuya sat in a corner, while Kyo sat in the other end, refusing to talk to each other. Akari sat beside her, trying to soothe her down. "I know he can be a bit of a pain in the ass… but please bear with him…."

"It's so rude! He actually called me 'dogface'," she said, waving her hand.

Akari took a deep breath, staring at Yuya with a pitiful look.

Yuya grabbed her portion of French fries, and continued to pour her heart's contents out. "I just don't get it. Why does he had to put himself in such a high position, that none of us could criticized him? It's so… _disgusting_. You guys should not surrender yourself to him and let him dominate like that. It's not healthy. That's not how a team supposed to be, Akari."

Akari just went quiet, but his expression suddenly grew serious. But before he could say anything, Bontenmaru came and took a seat in front of them, followed by Akira.

"Hey, pretty!" he yelled. Akari started to fixed his hair, smiling gladly. "Not you, drag queen," Bontenmaru added, looking slightly irritated.

Akira opened up his lunch package. "So, how do you like your first day with these bunch of hooligans?"

Yuya took a deep breath. "Kinda hard, but… it's still nice though!" she replied, giving a warm smile.

Akira smiled back. "Anyway… I heard that you graduated from Tokyo University. Is that true?" he asked, with his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking.

"Yes, I used to major in English," answered Yuya.

Suddenly Akira slapped the table. "That's great! Guess what? I also graduated from Tokyo Uni, English major!"

Yuya's eyes widened. "You gotta be kidding!"

"Hell no! I just graduated last year, after five long years trying to juggle academic life and a rock band," Akira replied. "Isn't this great? We actually went to the same school!"

"I'm so ashamed that I didn't know about it before…," said Yuya, realizing this evident flaw in her research on the background of the band's members. "So, does Muramasa-sensei still teach there? He's so kind, the best lecturer ever!"

They soon found themselves involved in a vary warm and intimate conversation, talking about their college life; how Yuya used to be part of the campus magazine, how Akira tried hard to stay awake in his classes after a night of concert.

"Ahem… Sorry, guys. Could you please talk about something that I could understand? Please, we're still here…," Bontenmaru interrupted, while finishing the second helping of his lunch.

"Oh, so sorry for that…," said Yuya.

"Anyway, Yuya. I often wonder. And I always wanted to ask this question, and now that you're here, I think I'll just spill it out," said Bontenmaru, putting down his piece of hamburger, looking very serious.

"Please, what is it?"

"Is it true that Izumono Okuni never wears any underwear?"

"……!!"

Yuya accidentally spit her drinks out, Akira choked, and Akari started to roll on the floor, laughing hysterically. "Oh my God, Bon!! What a question!"

"What makes you think so!?" asked Yuya, wiping her mouth with a tissue paper.

Bontenmaru raised his shoulders. "Street gossips. You know, those manly talks," he answered quietly, as if nothing is wrong.

Yuya began to chuckled. "But it's funny, though."

"Bon, that is so embarrassing. Of all the things you could ask, why do you have to ask that question?" Akira protested, his face blushed.

Bon scratched his ear. "Well, from your point of view, it might not be that interesting anymore… you know, now that you got a girlfriend and all…."

"Shut up, Bon!"

Akari started to cheer. "Akira got a girlfriend! Woo-hoo!"

"Akari!!"

Yuya moved herself closer to Bon, who is laughing hard now, looking very interested. "So who's the lucky girl?"

Bon stopped laughing and looked around, as if looking for something. Then his gaze stopped at a TV set hanged on the wall of the restaurant. His smile widened. "_That_ girl."

Yuya turned herself around, and looked at the TV. There was this rock music video, and the singer was this stunningly pretty young girl, sitting on a chair in the middle of a desert, playing a guitar. She was wearing a white summer dress, which complemented really well with her short blonde hair, frail figure, and porcelain skin. Yuya smiled. "Oh, I know her! She's that new singer!"

"Yup, her name's Tokito. Right, Akira?"

"Shut up!" Akira snapped, blushing even more than ever. But then he turned to Yuya, and mumbled slowly, "Yes, it's her."

Yuya smiled.

"Ah… I always feel better after lunch…," said Bon, rubbing his stomach as they walked out of the restaurant. Suddenly his gaze fell at a statue of the restaurant's mascot, a red-haired clown, sitting on a bench. People can actually sit beside the clown on the bench, and suddenly, Bon had this fantastic idea.

"I wanna take pictures with the clown! Could anyone please help?" he shouted, taking his mobile phone out and changed it to camera mode. Tora immediately prepared to take pictures with his camera.

Kyo blew smokes from his cigarette. "Here, let me do that for you." He took Bon's mobile phone and began searching for a good angle, while Bon hastily ran to the bench.

Yuya lifted her eyebrows. _He offered himself to do a favor for his friend? How very unlikely._

She folded her arms and watched Bon took pictures with the clown statue, followed by Akira, Hotaru and the rest of the team ("We want one too!"). In the end, all the members of the band and their management team took pictures with the clown, and people started to gather around the site just to watch them do it ("Isn't that Kyo?" some girls whispered to each other). Tora was having a great time; not only that he could get some nice pictures of the band members, he can also took pictures of the crowds as well.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, until Akari finally decided to do something unexpected.

"Tora, please take a pic of me and this mister," he politely asked Tora. He moved away to sit on the lap of the statue, posing in a girly way and kissed the statue's cheek. Everyone laughed and cheered. She continued to pose and take pictures, until her poses suddenly became more and more… vulgar.

"Wait, don't start it…," Bon interrupted, started to get annoyed. But Akari did not listened. Instead he changed his sitting position; now he is sitting face to face with the statue, his legs wide apart.

Everyone screamed.

"Akari!! It's disgusting, stop it!" Akira yelled, his face became red again. The crowds started to scream and ran, even an old man in kimono started to point with his walking stick and curse Akari for his 'indecent actions'. Kyo, Bon, and the management team just laughed, Tora continued to take pictures, while Hotaru just stare and went silent.

Yuya could only stop and stare, unable to believe what she had saw. Akari and his erotic pose! With a clown statue! What was that? Why does this band always seemed to shock her with their attitude? Is there anything else that could be any crazier? She just did not get it. Yet she began to search for her notepad, and started to write things down.

"Attention, guys! Please listen to me, this is important! And I'm not going to repeat it."

They have been continuing their journey for an hour until finally Sanada made this important announcement. He stood up in the front side of the bus, exactly behind the bus driver. At first he had to struggle to keep standing up, as the bus was riding in a rather high speed, but he finally found something to hold on to ("Careful, dude… we don't wanna lose you after our sixth manager jumped down from Tokyo Tower. Stressed out, they said," Bon interrupted). Then he took out his Blackberry, and started to read things out.

"A few minutes later, we're going to arrive in Osaka," he announced.

"Hurray…! I love Osaka," Akari yelled.

"Then we're going straight to the radio station. There'll be an interview, and an acoustic performance… I believe I have told you guys about this, so please be prepared. Then afterwards we're going straight to where we're going to stay…," he continued and mention a very famous name in the hotel industry, and everyone cheered to the sound of it. "Alright, don't forget to thank me for that. Make sure that you guys get some rest, as tomorrow we're going to start our big gig. Is that understood? Any questions?"

Hotaru raised a hand.

"Yes, what is it? Hotaru?" asked Sanada, pointing his Blackberry to Hotaru's direction.

"Where are we going?" Hotaru asked.

Yuya sat near the window, just a few moments after Sanada decided to ignore Hotaru's question. She noticed that the view outside began to change. They have left the highway, and now they started to enter the downtown. Yuya liked what she saw; the view of Himeji castle in far away, the people who walked down the streets. It seemed that she was not the only fan of the city, as everyone in the bus started to cheer.

They continued to ride, until Yuya realized that the sideway was more crowded than usual. There were hundreds of people, queuing and gathering, filling the streets. Many of them are young, dressing up in the way many young, rebellious Japanese would. Some of them had this placard in their hands, but Yuya cannot see what they wrote on it. They seemed to be anticipating for something, and some of them cheered as they saw the bus ride passed them. _Geez, what are they doing?_ Yuya thought, curious. _Is there a strike or something?_

"Attention, guys!"

It's Sanada again, and as Yuya turned her head to his direction, she could see him standing in front of the bus' door. He looked as if he was ready to open it, and in his hand was a walkie-talkie, beeping and making noises. "In a minute, the bus will stop and we will head directly into the radio station's office. And you guys have to be quick and be really careful, as you can see, there are lotsa fans out there waiting for you…," he said.

Yuya dropped her jaw, unable to believe what she just heard. _Those people are here for us!?_

She turned back to the window, and for the first time, she realized that the placards that they are carrying are actually posters of The Shiseitens.

"And I want you guys to just hurry up, there'll be extra time for a meet and greet session. So no pictures and no autographs, ok? Saizo is outside, so just follow him, he will guide you…," Sanada continued to give directions.

Yuya turned to Tora, who was just behind her, taking pictures of the crowds outside. "Tora! Those… those people… they're here just to see The Shiseitens coming out of this bus!?" she asked in a whisper.

"Off course! Who do you think they are? Tsunami victims?" Tora replied without taking his eyes off his camera.

"I know! But I never thought…."

"Yuya! Tora!"

Both of them turned their heads. "Yes?"

"You guys are also going to come with us. And you're going to get out of this bus after these guys," Sanada pointed at the band members. "Don't worry, we have our security ready, they will help you guys to get there. Kosuke will be right there behind you as well. Is that understood? Any questions?"

"Nope, it's all clear!" answered Tora, pointing his thumb, while Yuya was still trying to adsorb and remember the things Sanada mentioned.

The bus suddenly stopped.

Yuya could feel her heart jumped. She hastily grabbed her postman bag, feeling slightly panicked for not being ready. Then she ran to stand behind the band members, who was already getting ready to get out.

"Saizo, is everything clear? Copy," Sanada talked to his walkie-talkie. The thing made some beeping noise.

"All clear, you may come out now," a voice replied.

Yuya gulped, feeling even more nervous.

Everyone was silent. Sanada was the only one speaking.

"Ready guys? Here we go…."

Then he opened up the door, and all the silence was being broke by these huge, loud screaming of the fans outside.

_Kyaaa!!_

_Kyo! Oh my God, it's him!!_

_Akari, I love you!_

_Marry me, Kyo!_

_Akiraaaaaa… I love you!_

Yuya's jaw dropped again, while one by one, the members of The Shiseitens walked out of the bus, ready to face their fans. Kyo came out first, waving to his anticipating fans, with his trademark cynical smile. Akari came in second, giving away air kisses. Hotaru just watched and lifted his eyebrows as girls tried to grab his shirt. Bon almost gave a fan his autographs when suddenly he was being pulled away by the bodyguards. Akira struggled to walked passed his fans, trying to maintain a smiling face, while deep inside he felt like screaming.

Now it's Yuya's turn, but instead, she just stood in front of the door, staring at the crowd. She had never been that famous throughout her life to have fans screaming at her (even when her book was launched, it was Okuni who got the most attention, not the writer), and now to see the real face of fame in front of her very own eyes, she just cannot believe it.

"Yuya! What are you doing? We have to be quick!" Tora shouted.

She then moved, but her amazement to the world of rock still lingers.

These are the noises that came out from every listener's radio in all over Osaka, and the actual scene behind it.

"_Konnichiwa, minna_!! Back again in the Afternoon Show!" a young girl with a cheerful face and a high-pitched voice yelled to the microphone. She was sitting in this recording studio, with a furry, rabbit-ear-shaped headphone covering her ears, while a light bulb outside flashes red ("ON AIR").

"Right, Saishi, we also have very special guests today…," another girl, whose face looked sterner than the other, answered with her deep, serious voice.

"Oh my God, who are they? Are they handsome?" Saishi asked, overexcited.

"Sure, they are…," replied Saisei, the other girl, her voice still as cold as usual.

"Ha! Handsome, she said!" Bon's voice could be heard, followed by a chuckle.

Akari pouted. "It hurts the feelings of a girl…."

"…in fact, they are more than just handsome. They're the hottest thing in our country now!" Saisei continued.

Akira suddenly moved his hand. "All these… handsome-hottie thingy is getting on my nerves. It's not like we're Kimura Takuya or something!"

Yuya chuckled as she heard Akira's last comment. She was sitting together with Tora, just outside the recording room, where they could watch the ongoing interview through a glass window. She watched all these interviews closely, while taking down notes for her book. Her smile grew every time she saw the band members laughed and cheered while answering the given questions by the DJs. In the other hand, she frowned as she realized that almost all of the questions were being answered, or at least summarized, by Kyo.

She tucked Tora's shoulder. "Tora, listen…."

Tora made a growling noise, too busy staring at his camera.

"Listen!"

"What!" He finally turned, putting his camera down.

"Look, I just don't get it. Why does he -I mean, Kyo- always dominate the whole interview? I mean, do the others ever, like, contribute something?"

Tora returned to his camera. "Nonsense. The Shiseitens is one of the most solid team on earth."

"But he always seem to dominate!" Yuya replied, clutching both of her fists tightly.

Tora did not answered, yet he slowly put his camera down. He then turned to Yuya, his slanted eyes stared at the girl's seriously, making Yuya lost her words.

"Look, Yuya. I've known that guy for years. To me, the point is not whether he dominate or not. The point is…," he took a deep breath, his hand moving around. "The point is, _even if_ he does dominate… he did it for good."

Yuya rolled her eyes. "Tora, whatever the intention…."

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I gave you… The Shiseitens!"_

The sound of Saishi's high-pitched voice made Yuya turned back to the window, and Tora grabbed his camera back.

There in the recording room, the arrangement of the sitting position had changed. Saishi and Saisei was still sitting behind their desk, facing the microphone, but the band members were now sitting far away from them. They were being given a different microphone, and Kyo had already sat with his acoustic guitar. So was Hotaru with his bass guitar. Akira sat with a baby grand piano, while Bon made some noises with the tambourine in his hand. Akari pulled a deep breath, and began to sing, following the rhythm to Kyo's guitar.

_And I look upon to see leaves fall upon my head… my head, which endlessly think of ghosts of the past…_

He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to adsorb essence of the song into himself. While Kyo made a stronger melody with his guitar, followed by the soothing sound of Akira's piano. The instruments played their music, catching up to each other and mingled well to each other. As if they were two best friends, competing on a friendly fencing match.

After the chorus bits, Kyo lifted up his head, and his gaze fell directly to Yuya's eyes, who was staring at the band's playing. After a clumsy second, he smirked, and his lips silently mouthed "dogface".

The sound of showering water was heard, followed by the sound of a girl's singing. Then the water sounds disappeared, replaced by the sounds of footsteps and the sound of a towel being thrown into a basket.

The bathroom door swung open.

"Aah!! What a nice hot shower!"

Yuya walked out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed. She had just taken her night shower, just a few moments after they had arrived in the hotel. Now she is walking around in her suite room (especially reserved for her, with a very nice queen-size bed) with wet hair and her favorite pair of pink pajamas (sorry boys, no nude scenes here).

"Geez, it's not really bad anyway to stay with these guys… it's been a hard and tiring day, yet the room is just impressive! It's really worth it," she talked to herself, while drying her hair with a hairdryer.

"And the guys were really nice. It's the best job I've ever had so far! Except for…."

She then went silent. The hairdryer continued to make blowing noise, yet Yuya just stop and stare at her reflection in the mirror. Her face had turned red again, smokes puffed out of her head, and her eyes grew bigger and white.

"Except for that !"

She threw her brush to the table. "That Kyo person! Never thought he would be _soooooo_ annoying!"

"But the worst thing is… everyone seemed to be on his side!" she continued, taking her brush back. "He did it for good, Yuya," she added, mimicking Tora's way of saying it.

She switched off her dryer and put it back in to her suitcase. _I thought he would be just a little nicer… but…_

_BANG!!_

"Kyaa!!"

She started and jumped at this loud banging noise on her door. Someone seemed to be slapping the door with rage, making her scared.

"Who is it!?"

"It's me, Akira! Open the door! Quick!"

Yuya ran to the door, panicking. "What's the matter, Akira!?"

The door swung open, and Akira burst in. "Close the door! Quick!"

"Geez, what happened? You look so scared!" Yuya said, closing the door, turning her attention to Akira. He was running out of breath and is now leaning to the wall, looking very much relieved.

"Yuya… _phew_… whatever happened…," he paused, trying to catch his breathing. "Don't tell them I'm here!"

Before Yuya had time to say anything, the door bell rang. "It's them!" Akira shouted, then he ran straight to the bathroom to hide.

Yuya opened the door with a large question mark on top of her head. And found Akari standing in front of her, with a very happy face.

"Yuyaaaaaa! Oh great! You definitely had to join our party!" he shouted, his arms wide open. Imaginary confetti seemed to be floating around him, and as he moved himself closer, Yuya noticed a strong smell of alcohol. And his face was red, too.

"Oh, what party?" she asked politely, walking out of the room. Actually she felt too tired to join such event, but she thought it would not hurt to just appear and say hi to everyone.

Akari happily pulled her to his room, and as she got inside, she dropped her jaw.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Tora was there, he happily yelled "Yuyaaa!" as she went inside. Hotaru was sitting on the window-sill, puffing smokes from his hand-rolled cigarette (Or was it weed? This idea really sent chills down Yuya's spine). Kyo sat on a couch, with two girls -seemingly a group of groupies- hugging him cheerfully and kissing his cheek. There were some people that she did not know, yet there were all having fun with bottles of sake on their hand, clapping and shouting at, to Yuya's horror, a naked Bontenmaru dancing on the table.

The sight was too scary and she decided that she was not going to join in and clap at a naked Bon. "Err… hi, guys! What a great party… uhm… but I had to go, I… a bit tired…."

"Geez, why, Yuya? We're expecting you to join…," said Akari, looking sad.

"Not joining us, eh, dogface?"

Everyone turned their head to Kyo's direction, exactly when one of the groupie started to kiss him on the lips. Kyo seemed a bit surprised at first, but then, he really enjoyed it and began to French kiss the girl. Everyone cheered ("Kyo just scored again!").

Yuya stared, her lips trembled.

"Why? You jealous, dogface?" asked Kyo, just as he finished kissing the groupie.

"No way," Yuya mumbled. But she turned and walk away from the room, feeling totally disgusted.

Yuya slammed the door shut. She leaned on the door, taking a deep breath. Then she yelled with all her power. "Uurgh… Uwaaaaa!!"

Then, much to her surprise, Akira (who was sitting on a couch and reading a travel magazine) stood and ran up to her. "Yuya! You made it! Geez, what's wrong?"

Yuya let herself fall into sitting position. "Well, let's just say that I just had this privilege to check out Bon's cheek…."

Akira made that thinking pose again. "Oh, he finally took it all off, didn't he? That was quite a progress… but never mind," he muttered. Then he sat on the floor, facing Yuya. "Seriously, what happened?"

Yuya sighed. Then she told Akira what she had saw in Akari's room; how Kyo had these groupies around him, and started to kiss one of them, with tongues included. And how the sight really disgusted her, and made her decided to leave right away.

Akira listened attentively. Then he made this understanding smile. "Well, I know that it must be hard for girls. I don't mean to underestimate, but the sight of Kyo, playing around with girls, and this so-called rock and roll lifestyle…," he sighed. "Even I, who spent days in it, sometimes just don't get it. It can get really mad sometimes…."

"Yeah… I mean, I kinda expect it to happened when I took this project. But nothing could have prepared me for that," she replied, out of energy.

They both went silent for a while. Yuya took the chance to examine Akira carefully; he was sitting there in front of her, with his legs folded. By the time he was wearing a grey T-shirt and a black training pants, his strawberry-blonde hair was as messy as usual. His brilliant blue eyes always seems to be glittering with spirit. He smiled back as he realized that Yuya watched him rather closely. That moment, Yuya grew even sure that something made this guy different than the other. What is it? Probably because he was younger than the rest of the group? Or maybe his educational background? Yuya decided to found out.

"So, Akira…," Yuya took a deep breath.

"Yes?"

"How did you join The Shiseitens? I mean, I notice that you're kinda different from the rest…," Yuya asked, feeling like pinching herself, for she sound too much like a journalist on an investigative report.

Akira mumbled. "Honestly, I don't know what you meant by 'different'. So, I think I'll just explain to you how I got into this group."

Yuya fixed her sitting position. "Please, I'd love to."

Akira then took a deep breath, and began to tell the story of his life. On how he was such a musical prodigy. He began playing the piano by six and followed by violin when he was ten. Then, when he was in junior high, he joined the national youth orchestra, and was even once went to Germany to represent Japan in this international music festival. Classical music was such an important part of his life, yet he also had another obsession.

"Apart from classics, I'm crazy about rock music as well. I actually woke up to Aerosmiths' songs in the morning, and went to sleep with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' by night! It put a balance in my life. And I remember… once I was listening to this song by X-Japan, and I thought that…," Akira said, moving his hands around. "Well… these two very different kind of music can actually mingled really well. And I began to dream about joining a rock band."

"So you joined The Shiseitens right away?" Yuya asked, hugging her legs.

Akira shook his head. "No! Actually, it wasn't until my freshman year in college. Before that, I used to join this small garage band, trying to play The Beatles' songs. But it didn't last, the band was really bad anyway."

He paused. "Oh, right, about The Shiseitens itself…."

"Did you had an audition or something?"

Akira went silent, his eyes stared into a 'do not disturb' sign on the door knob. There was something mysterious in his smile. Slowly, he began to answer, "Let's just say that… it's an audition made by fate…."

Yuya released her legs. _What?_

Akira chuckled.

"So… I used to had this part-time job playing piano at this four-star hotel…," he began. "I usually play some classical tunes to accompany people drinking in the coffee shop. But one day, I decided to do something different."

"Uh-huh…," Yuya muttered, still bewildered, trying to follow Akira's stories.

Akira moved his head closer to Yuya, looking as if he was going to tell a very big secret. He cannot contain his excitement, and it made Yuya moved herself closer to him. "I decided to play _Light My Fire_ by The Doors! Yes, with the grand piano!"

All was silent. Yuya returned to her original position. She gave a thinking look. "Okay… what made you do that? And what happened next?"

Akira shrugged. "I don't know, I just feel like it. I've been practicing the song for some time, and I feel like I wanted show the world… that I could actually do it. And it turned out that I made the right choice!"

"People starting to clap, following the rhythm of the music. Usually they just talk among themselves or focusing on their drinks, but this time, they actually pay attention to my playing… and then, when I'm about to leave the stage, it happened," Akira continued.

"What? What happened?"

"I realized that I was being closely watched by someone…."

Yuya mumbled. She knew where the direction of this conversation is going.

"Right, it was Kyo," Akira sighed. "He was there, standing with this black, formal kimono… Smoking… He was there to attend a cousin's wedding, and he got bored, so he went to the coffee shop. And he saw me! So he came up to me and asked if I ever considered playing in a rock band. With my piano."

"And you didn't say no…."

"Sure. I came to practice with them on the next day…," Akira replied. He took a deep breath. "Yuya, that was the greatest experience in my life! I finally meet my best friends and do something that I'd always dreamed of."

Yuya smiled. As a journalist, she had to interviewed a lot of people, and to hear them talking about their stories always gave this pleasant sensation to herself, and she always loved it. Until…

"Since then, Kyo became a very important person for me. He was a brother, a mentor… he inspired me a lot," Akira added, with this dreamy gaze in his bright blue eyes.

Yuya just did not like it. Of all the things she did not like about Kyo, the number one on her list is why people seemed to admire and adore him so much, despite of the fact that he always seemed to dominate his friends and mock her around. She started to fix her sitting position.

"Look, Akira. Actually, there's one thing that I just don't get. Why do you guys always seemed to adore and admire Kyo so much? That you don't even mind when he became…," she tried to find the right words. "Too dominant?"

Akira went quiet, and gave that thinking look again. "I don't know about the others. But to me, I found Kyo an inspiring person… as he allows me to express myself to the fullest. He allows me –and the other- to make our own music, and to put all our abilities to our work…," he answered. "He let us become ourselves. And to the full extent of it."

He slowly nodded, looking very certain about his belief.

Yuya could only wished if only she could see Kyo in such a positive way. Tora, Akira… all had their reasons to view Kyo as 'an inspiring person', and to let him do the things he do. But she just cannot see it. To her, Kyo was this arrogant, dominant, dirty, perverted person. Not an inspiration.

Suddenly Akira gave a starting look.

"Ah… Yuya! I bet you're really tired and you wanted to sleep, and I have kept you awake for a long time… I'm really sorry!" he said. Then he stood up and bowed. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to leave now."

Yuya hastily stood up. "No, seriously, it's OK…."

"I don't wanna disturb…," Akira muttered, starting to turn the doorknob.

"Well, if you really had to go then…," Yuya muttered. But suddenly she remembered something.

"Uhm… Akira, wait!"

Akira turned his head around. "Yes?"

"Anyway… uhm… when you first knocked my door… what did you try to escape from?" Yuya asked, playing with her fingers. "It looked as if you're escaping something."

Akira did not answered. Instead, he opened the door with a very red face. "Let's just say that… I have a very low tolerance against alcohol. And that every time I drink, I tend to…well," he sighed. "Embarrass myself a lot. Good night!"

The door was closed.

Later that night, Yuya laid herself to bed. She was tired, and the comfortable bed sheets started to pull her away to dream land. But her mind kept on wandering, still unwilling to rest.

_Akira… the musical prodigy. Kyo's huge fans…_ she tossed and turned. _But he was such a good guy though…_

She rubbed her eyes, and found herself laid awake. Then she got up, turned on the table lights, and picked up her small notepad.

She checked all the thing she had written today, reading them out loud and talking to herself. "Unexpected behaviors… crazy fans… endless parties."

She continued to make notes. "Yet good music. And friendship, with trust in it," Yuya muttered. She looked slightly cynical. "Though I personally think it's unacceptable."

She went silent for a while, laying her head down on top of the notepad. Then she got up again, placing the notepad on the table, turning the lamp off.

_The Shiseitens… indeed, a very interesting project._

While she drifted herself away into sleep, the party in Akari's room had moved to the hotel's swimming pool, where everyone started to jump in and went skinny-dipping in the middle of the night. As for Akira? He was successfully caught and thrown to the pool.


	3. Chapter III: The Trouble

**Chapter III : The Trouble**

Yuya had spent two months joining The Shiseitens on tour. She considered it as a really great experience, judging from all these interesting things that happened along the way.

She had become fast friends with the members of the band, and had known everybody in the management team. Every time they stopped at a new town, she was always there to accompany Akari going shopping in many places of interests, and she also had to ran away from these eager fans and disturbing paparazzi (her face appeared in today's issue of a tabloid, with a headline stating "The Shiseitens' Akari out shopping with _a personal assistant_". She felt like tearing the tabloid apart, and Tora laughed his ass off).

She had also became a new best friend for Akira, who is always there in her bedroom every night. No, nothing happened, really. He was there just to have a nice chat, or to escape from Akari. Sometimes he just sat on the floor and listened to his iPod, with these papers containing musical notes laid down before him, and his fingers would move as if he was playing the piano ("It's for tomorrow's show. I need to keep practicing").

Yuya reckoned that the most fun experience was when they arrived in Fukuoka, where they had a chance to visit Hotaru's brother, Anri. He had a bakery and they left with boxes of _manju_ cakes, and Yuya found lots of interesting things to write about Hotaru ("He was adopted. At first, he was such a pain in the ass. Very nasty, bad school report –it turned out that he was dyslexic, you know. But then our dad –he had a guitar-making workshop and was once a rock star- decided to introduce him to music. And it wasn't bad, you know. Look at him now. I just wished he would use his brain more, he's actually pretty smart, you know. Anyway, have you tried these strawberry-filled _manjus_?").

She also had to see many great live concerts performed by the band. Sitting in the VVIP seat, she witnessed how the band gave away their attractive performance, making their audiences (and herself) went wild. They usually performed in an outdoor venue, like a park or a sport stadium, but they were also times when they performed in small live clubs, just like they did when the tour started ("The boys loved the atmosphere," once again Sanada said). Yet Yuya's favorite was when they gave an acoustic performance for a live TV show in one of Kyoto's amazing Japanese gardens. Akari sat under a sakura tree, singing a ballad, and Kyo sat on a big stone, playing his guitar. It was so beautiful that Yuya thought the birds and the sunlight sang with them as well.

On the other live shows, there were also many fun things to see as well. For example, one night Hotaru and Bon gave this nice drum-and-bass jam sessions, while the other night Akira had this solo performance, playing Chopin's song and rocking his head wildly, as a tribute to his orchestra days. Even on one of the shows, Sanada actually came up to the stage and joined the boys, playing the rhythm guitar. Yuya later found out that Sanada used to jam with them before Akira joined in, and later chose to become the manager instead. They also played Ayumi Hamasaki's songs in at least two of their shows, the first one was _Seasons_ (with Akira on the grand piano), and the other one was a more rocky version of _A Song for XX_. This was interesting, and later on Yuya found out that Akari is a big fan of the pop diva.

Yuya felt that she had a really great time working with this band, yet there is just one thing that she still found unacceptable, and she considered it as the dark side of the project.

It was Kyo.

Most of the time they were just fine, but in some other, they were just like cats and dogs. Once they were staying at this hot springs, and everyone was dipping themselves in these outdoor traditional style swimming pool, enjoying the steamy hot water curing their fatigue. Yuya came in to the water, and Kyo started to made these sarcastic remarks on her ("Geez, you need to have more of Anri's _manju_ cakes. You have no boobs"). Yuya actually tried to drown him, and everyone had to take her away to a different pool (just to think about this incident could make her turn a table upside down, and Tora learned not to joke about it).

Even though so, their fights had never been so serious that it could possibly stop the project from going. Yes, she was indeed very annoyed. But nothing could actually ruin their relationship in a professional level (though on a personal level, it has), and they were times when Kyo was actually sane enough to talk to. Usually it is when they talked about the band, the tour, or when Yuya did interviews for her book. But after that, he is going to grab her again and she could only wished they had more serious, business talks.

Today they are staying in Sapporo, the biggest city in Hokkaido, an island located in northern part of Japan, where the weather remained relatively cold even though spring is almost over. As a preparation for the show, the band members are now sitting around in their hotel room, trying out the costumes for the show (an activity especially conducted for Akari and Hotaru).

Hotaru was standing in the middle of the room, with both of his hands lifted. He was wearing this very unique, bright red, baggy Chinese-style jacket, with his usual short jeans visible underneath. The band's stylist, Shihoudou, was standing in front of him, puffing cigarettes, with this serious thinking look. "Is it big enough? Can you move around freely in it?"

Hotaru moved his hands around, as if he was trying to fly. "It's OK. I like it."

In the other part of the room, everyone was busy doing their own things. Yuya sat on a couch with Bon by her side, doing interviews for the book ("My family had this small restaurant, and I actually had to do odd jobs like delivering noodles to customer. It's kinda hard to sneak in drum practice to my busy noodle-delivering schedule"). While in the other side of the room, Akari was sobbing into tears, with Akira in front of him, looking very unhappy.

"But you chose it yourself!" Akira said, sound very disturbed.

"I know, but it's really scary! You don't know how does it feel to be up there, flying around, with nothing but cables attached to your back!" Akari fired back, his face full of traces of melting mascara (he looked horrible, really).

"Sounds like fun to me," Akira muttered, looking very cynical, folding his arms in front of his body.

For tonight's show, Akari was planned to came down to the stage from the sky, with wire cables attached to his back. It seemed like a really great attraction, but when they tried it on him on today's sound checking routine, he did nothing but to cry and refusing to be lifted. But it did not work, as the checking had to be done anyway.

"I bet you would never do it. You're just bragging about it," Akari said.

"Off course not. Wanna bet?" Akira snapped, an unpleasant smile appeared on his face.

While their fights continued to go on, Hotaru had took off his new robe and changed it into his old, red sweatshirt. "Akari, it's your turn now," Shihoudou said.

"Two cans of Sapporo beer for you not being brave enough to be lifted around," Akari mumbled, leaving the couch and moved closer to Shihoudou, who had this bright pink kimono on her hands already. Akira lifted his shoulders, having this challenging look on his face. "Sure. Don't forget a nice hot bowl of miso ramen to celebrate my victory."

While Akari tried on his dress, Hotaru had moved in to stand in front of Yuya and Bon. "Hi, Hotaru! So how was the Ming emperor robe?" Yuya said, looking as cheerful as usual.

"Good," he replied, his expressions did not change much. "What are you guys doing?"

"Yuya here wanna know what makes me so hot," Bon replied, puffing smokes.

"Yeah, right," Yuya muttered, looking very cynical.

Suddenly Hotaru looked as if he was looking for something. His hands went inside his pockets, searching. In fact, he also tap his own butt, as if expecting for something to jump out. Then he took a deep breath. "I lost my cigarette. I think I'll go buy a new one."

"Great! Buy me a can of Red Bull as well," Bon shouted, as Hotaru walked away to leave the room.

"And some Lay's for me!" Yuya shouted, waving her hands cheerfully.

Hotaru waved his hand as he walked out of the door, without looking back at his friends.

"Where is Hotaru!?"

They were all backstage, with only one hour left to the show, and their audiences had started to line up in front of the building. The situation was lively and tense, but something else had made it felt slightly unpleasant.

Hotaru was nowhere to be found.

He was last seen by Yuya and Bon, leaving the hotel room to buy cigarettes. Hours had passed, the guys had to leave the hotel to go to the venue, but still he did not appeared. They tried to search in every possible places for a sight of him, asked every single person that had seen him leave the hotel room, and even some of the crew members were left behind in the hotel in case he showed up, but still no good news came. This incident really left everyone panicking.

All of the band members now sat in the dressing room, looking anxious and worried. Kyo sat at a quiet corner, busy with his mobile phone, trying to contact Hotaru. Akari actually had tears in his eyes ("Oh, Hotaru, where are you?"), and Bon looked grave as he lit his third cigarette. Akira continued to pace up and down, hands moving around wildly ("I can't believe this!"). And Sanada, as the person in charge, was the most stressful of all.

He had his usually neat hair tied in a low ponytail, sweating in spite of the cold weather, and just cannot let go of his mobile phone.

"Saizo, how's the progress? What!? He hasn't returned to the hotel!? Great, um… try the pool! The coffee shop! Or… I don't know, just go find him!" he shut the phone off, scratching the back of his head, looking very much distressed. "Goodness, I need cigarettes."

In the other corner of the room, Kyo also hang up. "His phone is inactive. I can't reach him."

"Damn," Sanada muttered.

While everyone was busy trying to find Hotaru, Yuya sat still on a couch, exactly beside the sobbing Akari. At first she was rubbing Akari's back, trying to calm him down, but then her hands were placed on her own lap. She looked extremely worried, and her hands' gestures looked as if they were eager to do something, but not knowing what to do.

_This is really bad_, she thought. _Hotaru's missing, and I couldn't do anything but to sit and anticipate… damn. Isn't there anything…_

But before Yuya could finish her train of thoughts, Akira's voice suddenly interrupted.

"That's it! I had enough of this!" he actually stomped the floor when he said this. Everyone's attention is now focusing on this sudden reaction.

Sanada folded his arms in front of his body. "Wait… what is this all about?"

Akira moved closer to Sanada. "Look, I just can't stand having to sit around here, in this place, while that brat was probably… somewhere, out there, laughing his ass off for this super-unfunny prank."

"I don't think he would do so. I think this is not a prank…," Akari interrupted, his voice still sound weak. He then burst into tears again after saying, "What if something bad happened to him? Oh, I just can't imagine it."

Akira looked at Sanada in his eyes. "I'm going to go out and search for him myself."

Sanada took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. "Look, don't…"

"Well, you expect me to just wait here and see what will happened!? I just can't do that!"

"Do you think I would risk losing you after we lost Hotaru!!"

Akira went silent.

"Look, you, I… all of us had no idea where he is. And now you decided to go out and search for him, and I'm sure you don't know about this area as much as I do…and we only have less than an hour to the show…," Sanada tried to explain, still looking angry. "Don't go try to kill yourself while there are lotsa smarter thing to do."

Akira looked as if he was trying to say something, but Kyo suddenly put his hand on Akira's shoulder. "Akira. I think he's right."

"Do you think so?"

"Well, I really understand that you're worried about Hotaru and desperately wanting to save him," Kyo gave this annoying smirk as he said it. "But it'd be better if you just stick around."

"I don't wanna save him! I'm just… pissed off," Akira mumbled, but then he turned to Sanada. "Alright then, Sanada, I'll… I think I'll stay."

Sanada shook Akira's shoulder. "Thanks a lot. I really appreciate that."

The little incident ends well. Everyone was relieved, but Yuya just cannot help feeling surprised as she saw how fatherly Kyo looked when he first tried to calm Akira down. But then his trademark annoying smirk came back, and he became that disastrous devil again.

Minutes passed, Sanada successfully calmed himself down and decided to wait for the results of the crew members' work. He sat with the others on the couch, discussing the steps they should take if the worst actually came true. Kyo suggested to go to the police if Hotaru does not show up at all tonight, and Akari came up with this idea of using Sasuke as Hotaru's replacement for tonight's show (Yuya immeadiately recognized the name as this sour-looking young boy who worked as Hotaru's sound technician). Everyone helped Sanada to figured some way out to the issue they are facing, and it really made him feel relieved for a while.

But then the contentment was disturbed by Kosuke, who hastily enter the room.

"Kosuke, my dear! So how was it? Any news?" Sanada immediately stood up, moving towards the stage manager.

Kosuke took a deep breath."There's something that you have to know. Come, I'll tell you outside," answered Kosuke. She then took Sanada's hand and walked to left the room, followed by Kyo.

Yuya, who had been a keen observer of the whole situation, realized straight away that Kosuke's voice was trembling when she talked to Sanada. Yuya then felt this painful stab in her stomach, as if something tried to tell her that a bigger danger is arising.

The door was then shut. The situation grew even more tense.

The awkward silence was broken by Bon. He put out his cigarette, and yelled, "Say! Why don't we go and turn on that TV! Perhaps we could find something more cheerful than this situation." He then stood up and walked towards a small TV set on a wall in a corner of the room.

Bon's action had restored Akari's mood, and he started to become more cheerful. "I know! Let's play that porn movie that you told us about!"

Akira protested immediately. "What!? On a situation like this!?"

"I didn't bring it…," Bon looked seriously disappointed.

The boys made this noisy ramble as Bon started to surf through channels, looking for something to watch. Watching this scene, Yuya made a forced smile. She felt more relieved, but still she cannot help not to turn her head towards the door, thinking of the conversation that happened outside. _Kosuke seemed really worried. I hope nothing bad happened…but, hey! Let's just watch TV and have fun with the boys…_

She then turned her head towards the direction of the boys. "So! What are we going to watch tonight?"

Unfortunately, nobody answered her. In fact, Akari's cheerful laughs suddenly disappeared, and he began to cover his mouth with trembling hands; Akira looked as if he saw someone being brutally tortured; and Bon began to increase the volume of the TV, his face looked serious.

"Guys? What's wrong?" Yuya asked.

"Yuya, you'd better come and see this," Akira answered, looking as grave as ever.

Inside the TV, a reporter was bringing a breaking news straight from a crime scene. It seems that a house in the suburban area has been robbed, and Yuya could clearly seen bunches of policemen and journalists doing their work on the background; flashes of light started to appear, and investigator started to search for evidence. Even the robbed house was clearly shown; its window shattered, the inside was in a complete mess, and they had put yellow police line around the area. Finally the suspect was being revealed; he was handcuffed and carried by two policemen, walking through bunches of mass that had started to gather around the location. He was a young man, had a skinny figure and was wearing a red sweatshirt. He had his hood on, but it could be clearly seen that he had messy blonde hair underneath, and his expression remain flat as the camera took a closer look.

Yuya lost all the colors in her face as she saw the face of the suspect.

"So, it's on TV already, huh?"

Everyone turned their head as Kyo walked in to the room, with Sanada by his side. They all seemed gloomy, yet somehow they felt more calm, now that they have found out what is going on.

"Kyo!" Akira ran to get closer to them. "What's going on!? It's that true!?" he pointed to the TV as he said this. Kyo did not give any answer.

Sanada clapped his hands. "OK, guys! Please calm down… I'm going to tell you what's going on."

Everyone gathered themselves closer to Sanada. Nobody made a noise, not even a single move.

"So… here it goes. We just had a call from the police, in fact, there's one out there waiting for one of us to go with him to their station," he pointed his thumb to the door as he said it. "Why? 'cause… well… you see… Hotaru is being _arrested_."


	4. Chapter IV: The Aftermath

**Chapter IV: The Aftermath**

The night grew darker and colder, and it did not made them feel any better.

Hotaru got arrested. The news hit like thunder, and left them feeling even more devastated. The show had to be cancelled, making them do what they hate most; disappointing their fans. Afterward they were being sent back to the hotel, waiting and anticipating, while Kyo and Sanada left with the policeman to the station, to check out Hotaru's condition.

It was unpleasant to wait, especially for such an event. They stayed in Bon's hotel room, still in their stage costume (I'm talking about Akari's glamorous pink kimono and make-up here), with unanswered questions in their mind.

Yuya was also deeply involved in this great depression. These last months, she had been really close with the band members, and Hotaru, though weird and impossible to understand, was surely one of her good friends. And this news just felt strange to her, as if she woke up from a nightmare and found out that it has came true. In fact, she actually tried to pinch herself a few times, just to make sure that it was all real. She just cannot wait for Sanada and Kyo to return, secretly hoping that they would return to tell them the news was a mistake. Or a fraud. Or anything else.

She took a look around the room. Akari laid himself on Bon's bed (in normal circumstances, he just would not do that) like a gigantic Barbie doll, his face could not be seen, but it is obvious that he still had the last traces of his tears (_sniff, sniff_). Akira also laid himself there, exactly beside Akari (it is also something we do not see everyday), listening to his iPod, trying to improve his mood with his favorite drug, music. Tora, who had been having a Bali-belly and had to stay in the hotel while everyone left to the venue, just entered the room. He had heard about the news and now decided to sit down and accompany them. While Bon himself sat on the couch, his eyes were closed but he did not seem to be asleep. And Yuya laid her head on Bon's huge shoulder, tired and craving for warmth.

Suddenly the door bell rang.

"Yes?" Yuya immediately jumped and ran to the door.

"It's us!" Sanada yelled happily, exactly as Yuya opened the door.

"Gosh, finally!" Akira woke with a start, pulling out his earphones in a way that made me jump, as if he was going to pull out his own ears.

Sanada sang along as he walked into the room, as if nothing happened. Kyo followed behind. He looked exhausted, and jumped straight away to Bon's bed.

"Kyo! Wait, don't fall asleep yet! What happened? Why is he singing?" Akira asked, shaking Kyo's body. Kyo just grunted.

"Kyo, please tell me that there is a good news," said Akari, stroking sleeping Kyo's hair in a goddess-like way (at least he thought so).

Sanada sat on the corner of the bed. "Actually, we have both good news and bad news."

Everyone went silent.

"They are?" asked Bon.

"Well, let's start from the good one first," Sanada said. Everyone held their breath. "The good news is… we've met Hotaru."

Everyone started to make these exciting, anticipating noises.

"And then?" Bon asked again.

"Which led to the bad news… well, it's true that he got arrested," Sanada continued, smiling.

Everyone went silent again.

Akira put his earphone back on his ears again. "Disappointing," he muttered, and laid himself down again.

Bon fixed his sitting position. "Look. The word 'Hotaru got arrested' is being said for at least two hundred times tonight…."

Akira interrupted. "It's not a word, it's a sentence."

"Whatever," said Bon, waving his hand. "You see, I believe that tonight everyone, everywhere in Japan… already knew that Hotaru got arrested. But my question is… what did he get arrested for?"

Everyone laid their eyes on Sanada, waiting for an answer. He then took a deep breath, and his face became serious for the first time. "OK, here's the full story…"

So it turned out that there was this gentleman called Mr. Shinrei, who lives in this single-storey house in a suburban area. Tonight, he returned home to found that the window of his bedroom had been broken. The room was in a mess, all his stuffs were upside down and the contents of his cupboard are everywhere. Suddenly he heard footsteps outside, so he ran to the garden, and found Hotaru there, climbing the fence, looking as if he was trying to escape. After a struggle (which involved pulling Hotaru's leg and rolling on the ground), he successfully caught Hotaru and called the police.

"Are you saying that Hotaru is being charged for robbery?" Bon asked.

"This Shinrei guy claimed that a silver watch and some cash went missing. And when they check out Hotaru's pocket, he had exactly the same amount of cash… and he was there, trying to ran away from the house… so…," Sanada explained. "But the watch was not found, though."

"That's not fair! He didn't even see him stealing it… It could be that he just happened to be in the wrong place, wrong time!" Akari shouted, pulling Sanada from behind, yelling to his face.

"Is there any better explanation why Hotaru was in that garden?" Sanada asked, still in an upside-down position.

Akari went silent, slowly releasing Sanada. "Well, no… but since it's Hotaru…."

Bon interrupted. "Is there any way that we can bail him out?"

Sanada sighed. He lifted his shoulders, and his hands moved around. "Even if we could, we don't have the money, Bonnie dear. All was spent for this tour, the promotional bits, the book project…," he glanced at Yuya as he said this, and she bent her head down, feeling slightly guilty.

"Never mind that, Sanada. Don't waste our money for a jerk like him."

Everyone started at such controversial, full-of-hatred comment, and was even more shocked when they found out that it was said by Akira. Even Kyo opened one of his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Sanada asked.

"Well, he has made a mistake, therefore should bear the consequences…," Akira said, taking off his earphone. "So, don't bail him out. Let him rot in that cell for bringing us into such great trouble."

Akari stood up. "How could you say that!"

"Akari, he's a criminal! He had brought such a disgrace to our band! Now people are going to think that we are nothing more than bunches of thugs…."

"I'm definitely not a thug, and I strongly believe that Hotaru isn't as well."

"Sorry, but reality proved otherwise," Akira said, looking cynical. Akari made a silent "What!?" as he made this statement.

Akira then turned to Kyo. "Kyo! Fire him, or at least suspend him for a while. We could always find a replacement. Even Sasuke would do just fine…."

"I can't believe this! You…," Akari yelled, and he jumped across the bed to hit Akira. Akira defended himself by holding Akari's hitting hand, and he kicked Akari until he fell off the bed. But Akari had not given up just yet; he stood up, pulled Akira to the floor, and somehow managed to pinned him down.

"How could you kick me like that!"

"What! You hit me first!"

Their fights got even more violent, and everyone but Kyo (who was still sleeping) jumped to their feet and struggled to separate them.

Yuya got in the way, trying hard to slip herself between them so that they would stop fighting. "Stop! Stop it, guys!"

But it did not work, and she finally took a very deep breath…

"STOP IT WILL YOU!!"

Everyone went silent. Akari released his hands from Akira's throat, and Akira choked.

"We're facing a situation and you… you… ah, I can't even say it!" Yuya looked as if she was going ripped her own head apart. "It's completely useless! Why don't you go and help the others think of what to do!?"

Then she sighed and went back to sit on the couch. "Even I feel concerned for the tour! I mean, what should we do without Hotaru?"

"Y'know what, Akira? The dogface's right…," Kyo's voice was finally heard. Everyone turned and found him getting up slowly, stretching his arms.

"What… you…," Yuya's emotion fired up again, but Kyo ignored it.

"We can't be sure whether he's guilty or not until it's been proven by the court," Kyo said, scratching one of his eyes. "We just don't know about it yet. So, until that time, he's still a part of us."

He then added, "And we have to postpone the tour, until the matter's settled. We should take care of things, we won't be able to focus."

There was a slight pause, but then everyone started to nod. "He's right."

Yuya dropped her jaw. _Wow_, she thought. _That's wise_.

Kyo then turned his attention to Akira. "Apart from that, Akira…," he yawned. "_Trust your friend_."

Their eyes met for quiet a long time, and there was something in Kyo's gaze that only Akira could understand. At first it looked as if he tried to refuse it; but then he actually bit his own lips and lowered his head.

During that single moment, Yuya thought that Kyo's eyes were gleaming with this scarlet shades again.

"Well… whatever," Akira muttered, getting up and returning to the bed. Kyo smirked.

Sanada clapped. "OK then! Everything's settled… That's all for today's meeting… Sleep tight, guys!" he then stood up to leave the room.

He walked out and closed the door, and afterward everyone could hear him yelled, "Jesus! I forgot to call Hotaru's family!"

*****

The morning sun had just risen, shining down on this two-storey, Japanese-style house somewhere in an alley in Shinjuku. It was a rather simple house, with its wooden sliding door and grey wall-paint, but very neatly arranged and had pots of luscious greens in its every corner.

Inside the house, Yuya Shiina could be seen entering the kitchen. Still in her favorite pink pajama, she made a bun on top of her head with a hairpin, then stood at the kitchen's door, looking all around. Then she sighed. "Time for breakfast!"

She first opened the fridge, and observed its contents with great care. Then she took out some eggs, a bottle of milk, and a pack of cheese. She moved to the stove's direction, doing some work there, and returned with two portions of scrambled egg. Soon, the toast was made, the coffee started to brew, and she went outside to get the newspaper.

Things had been like these in the past one week for Yuya. Ever since that fateful day, when the management team decided to postpone the tour due to Hotaru's arrest, Yuya and the others were being sent back to Tokyo, to return to normal, everyday life until an undecided time.

This is what she had doing every day, since she had no Project to do now; waking up early, making a proper meal for her brother, going grocery shopping, read a novel or two, cleaning up the house, get on the Net, putting on a facial mask. Actually, once she tried to go to her office, just to find something more rewarding to do. But when she got there, the editor-in-chief Mahiro was like, "What are you doing here? I've given you a leave so that you can write your new book, so go home and write one!" Usually she would be glad with the fact that her boss actually supported her other career, but seeing how the situation had turned out, it did not really feel like a blessing for her.

Meanwhile, the whole country was having this hysteria of Hotaru's arrest. Every time Yuya turned on the TV, she always found something new about it. The scenes of Hotaru being dragged around by policemen appeared on every newscast, and she just found out that there was actually this part where Hotaru lifted his handcuffed hands in front of the camera, as if trying to show the world that 'look, I got arrested!'. Even yesterday Mr. Shinrei was being interviewed ("Yes, I saw him trying to get out of my place… Something's wrong about the way he looked at me. Maybe he was drunk… Can't be too careful") and Yuya immediately felt distasted by the way he talked, and thought his hair looked awful. There was also this news about groups of young girls gathered in front of the police station and cried out Hotaru's name, and left flowers and letters for him. In fact, Yuya found this talk show for parents which discussed "the influence of rock music to teenager's violent behavior", with Hotaru being a perfect example.

But nothing could go as crazy as the tabloids. Every time she went to the supermarket, she always managed to stop at the newsstand, and was always shocked with what she found. The story had spiraled out of control; it is said that Hotaru is a drug addict (completed with a picture of him walking out of a night club with cigarette on his mouth, looking not so sober… but hey! Everyone looks like that after a night out), and that the band is seriously considering to break up (she sent a message to Sanada about this and he replied with nothing but this laughing smiley face). There was even one that claimed Hotaru as a part of a criminal syndicate!

That is why Yuya came back to the kitchen feeling relieved, as she had checked the newspaper as soon as it was thrown to her doorstep by the newsboy, and found nothing new about the issue. She then focused herself into setting the table for breakfast, and someone walked in.

"Hm… what's this delicious smell?"

Yuya lifted her head and found her brother, Nozomu, walking in. He had his tie on his neck, ready to be tied, and carried a briefcase and a white coat, ready to go to the hospital, where he worked as a pediatrician. Yuya smiled to him. "Scrambled egg and toast! It's been a while, huh?"

"Wow, maybe you should be unemployed more often, then I can get all these delicious meals every day," Nozomu muttered, putting his briefcase under the table.

"Right, and I'm going to be an angry old lady like that one we had for a neighbor," Yuya rolled her eyes, and as she said so, a loud yelling could be heard coming from their next door neighbor. They both laughed.

"So, how's your work?" Nozomu asked, slurping his cup of coffee.

"Ba-don?" Yuya mumbled, her mouth full of food.

"You know, your project. I mean, now that one of them is being arrested, and the tour's cancelled, how about the project? Are they still going to hire you, or is it postponed…," Nozomu explained.

Yuya swallowed her food. "Oh, that… Actually, I haven't talk to Kyo. There hasn't been any business talk ever since we returned to Tokyo," she answered. "Everyone is busy with Hotaru."

She then put her hands on the back of her head, and lean herself to the chair. Watching the morning light filling the room, making these beautiful, straight lines, her mind wandered. For a while, she forgot where she is, until her brother's voice broke in.

"Yuya, I'm talking to you."

"Oh, sorry," she said, returning to her original position. "Err… what was it?"

"I was wondering…," Nozomu walked to the sink as he said this. "How do you feel about this incident?"

"Terrible, that's for sure. My job vanished to the air just like that, and I had to spend a week becoming a boring person."

"Apart from that, what do you think about… err… what's the name?" Nozomu asked, washing his hands. "Ah, whatever. Do you think he's really guilty?"

Yuya went silent. She bent her head down, and her mind began to wander again. Ah, this question. She had been thinking about it some times, yet she never actually talk about it to anyone, not even her brother. Let alone anyone from The Shiseitens. But she need to get it off her chest…

She lifted her head, her green eyes look troubled. She seemed to be hesitating, but she said it anyway. "Well, honestly… well… I don't think he's guilty."

Nozomu closed the tap. He dried his hands with an old towel hanged near the sink, and stared at his sister long enough. His face made this concerned, thinking expression. "You really think so?"

Yuya fixed her sitting position. "Yeah. I've been thinking a lot lately. Well, it's true that based on the situation on the crime scene, it seems obvious that he's guilty," Yuya explained, suddenly feeling confident. "But… I don't know, Nii-san… I feel like… I know this guy, and something inside me is telling me that he wouldn't do anything like this. Well, he's a bit enigmatic, that's for sure, but I just can't see him doing it. I don't know."

"Maybe you just can't accept the fact that your friend is actually a criminal," Nozomu said, leaning to the sink.

"Actually, I'm not the only one who thinks so," Yuya said, thinking of Akari, and how he yelled to Sanada's face about how unfair the accusation is.

But then she smiled. "But… well, it's true, we'll never know!"

Nozomu smiled. "If he's really innocent, that's great. But if he's not… well, you had to learn to put up with it… Oh, it's time for me to go."

Yuya then walked out of the house to send her brother off. And when his car disappeared at the end of the alley, her mind began to wander again. _But, Nii-san… I've learned that somehow, this something inside me is always worth to listen to._

Afternoon came, and Yuya found herself walking in the streets of Shibuya. She was wearing a trendy purple plaid shirt and black skinny pants, completed with matching flat shoes and leather bag. Her facial expression gave an impression that she was thinking hard, but seemed relieved when she saw this famous fast food restaurant. She got in, and her gaze search for a sight of Kyo.

He was found sitting in a table facing the window. Wearing a black T-shirt and leather jacket, completed with ripped jeans, he seemed to be enjoying his lunch quietly (cheeseburger, fries, iced tea). As she approached him, a teenage boy in high school uniform came up and asked for his autograph. He gave it and the teenager thanked him cheerfully.

"Kyo!" Yuya greeted him, giving her usual cheerful smile.

Kyo turned at her direction, and gave his usual smirk. "Oh, it's you, dogface."

Yuya's smile faded, and she stopped before Kyo's table. "Say that again and I'll leave this place."

"Geez. You're so not creative. You said the same thing when I called you this morning."

"Yes, 'cuz you keep on calling me 'dogface', and I decided it's what I'm going to do if you keep on doing it," Yuya said, sitting beside Kyo.

Kyo went quiet. He continued to munch his half-eaten cheeseburger, and when he had finished, his gaze fell at Yuya for a while, looking as if he was questioning Yuya's statement. "Dogface."

Yuya did not say anything, but looked as if she was going to hit Kyo with her shoe.

"I thought you're going to leave if I call you 'dogface'," Kyo said.

"Lucky for you, I have much more important things to do, so I'm not going to leave that easily," Yuya said, looking snobbish.

"Good," Kyo muttered. "Anyway, I got something for you."

Yuya almost fell from her chair. _What?_

"Hey, don't give me that look. Seriously, I got something for you," said Kyo, taking his black backpack out and started to search inside. He then found the thing he was looking for, and start making that billion-dollar smirk again. "Close your eyes."

Yuya made these weird moves with her lips, looking as if she was trying to say something, but her brain did not get it right. "Wow… this is… very unlikely… Thanks a lot, Kyo," said Yuya, still looking unsure. _He's going to give something for me?_

She then closed her eyes, and could feel Kyo's hands moving through her head. His hands accidentally touched her fine blonde hair, and… wow, it does not feel so bad. And then it felt as if something was put on top of her head (_Wait. What's that?_). She opened her eyes, and heard this clicking sound.

She blinked, and the first thing she saw was Kyo's cell phone, right in front of her face.

_Huh?_

"Hey, you look great," Kyo said, unable to hold his laughter.

_Huh!!?_

"No…," Yuya became panic as she realized that Kyo just took a picture of her WITHOUT her consent, started to made an effort to grab his cell phone away. Then she realized that there was something odd on top of her head.

She turned her head and stared at the window's glass, and almost die to see a bright, yellow paper crown on top of her head.

"What is this thing!?" she yelled, pointing at her own head.

"Oh, that? It's a bonus. I bought a burger, and they gave me a crown," Kyo smirked. "Looks great on you, Princess."

Yuya then roared to the sky, and acted as if she was possessed. She hit Kyo and forced him to handed her the cell phone, and deleted her picture right away. She also yelled about how he had made fun of her with the paper crown. Everyone in the restaurant stared at them, and many started to whisper to each other.

"Alright, alright! OK, stop playing around…," Kyo said, managing to save his cell phone (and the picture) from Yuya's attacks. "Let's talk about business…."

"It was YOU who was playing around!" Yuya shouted, taking the crown off. Then she took a deep breath, and stared at Kyo. "OK, how's Hotaru?"

"He's good. Just talked to him on the phone yesterday," Kyo answered. "Been playing Uno cards with his inmate, a bank-robber."

"Well, that's very… him," Yuya muttered. "And I'm here to talk about the continuity of the Project."

Kyo lit his cigarette. "Ah, the Project. It'll remain as usual. Just keep on doing it, but maybe you'll have to change the direction of the story…."

"No, that's not it. I mean… maybe we should cancel it. Or maybe postpone it for a while."

Kyo went silent. His eyed stared at Yuya's, and once again she caught the sight of these scarlet shades. "What are you saying?"

Yuya sighed. "Well… I remember that… previously Sanada said that you guys can't bail him out of jail… 'cuz you don't have money, and it was spent for the book project," she explained. "And since it's very important to have him out of jail… so… I wouldn't mind if my Project was postponed for a while. Well, I would mind, off course, having to spend another weeks doing nothing…."

She then sighed, and her bright green eyes stared at Kyo. Somehow, something in those eyes revealed a firm believe. Something she was really sure of. "I'd love to see Hotaru getting out of jail, and reunited with you guys."

Kyo examined the look in her eyes, then puffed his cigarette. "That's not going to happen."

"What!? Kyo, but…."

"Hotaru isn't going out of jail. And Book Project will go on. Period."

"Don't you want Hotaru to get out of jail!?"

"Well, who doesn't? But I'm a businessman, and I'm not going to change the direction I've chosen for my business just like that. Just keep on writing, dogface. Perhaps you could write about this incident as well."

Yuya started to look desperate. "Look, Kyo… I don't wanna see him there forever! I had these… feelings… that he's actually not guilty."

Kyo blew smokes from his mouth. Then he made that infamous smirk again. "Don't worry too much, dogface. _He's still a part of The Shiseitens_."

And Yuya was left to wonder about what the sentence actually meant, with that paper crown standing proudly on the table.


	5. Chapter V: The Crossroads

**Chapter V: the Crossroads**

"Okay, folks. Lights out."

The policeman said the words solemnly as soon as he started his long walk along the prison's corridor on his night watch. As if his words were magical one, all the lights in the corridor started to be put off, one by one, following his movement. Soon, darkness started to fill the rows of cell in that corridor, and the policeman was nowhere to be seen.

It was absolutely silent, with no voices other than the snoring of the prisoners and a sneeze or two. As soon as something starting to get heard, the policeman would pop out of nowhere, standing in a manner of importance in front of that certain cell, and fake a cough. And nobody dares to move since.

Amidst the darkness, a pair of golden, cat-like eyes could be seen staring into the ceiling. At first it was focusing on whatever point it has been staring into, looking really serious. But then, it gradually went blank. And with a sigh, its stares turned into a bored one, as if he was tired of waiting for something uncertain.

"Hey. Fat Boy."

A voice called from under the bed of the cat-eyes' owner. It was kind of husky, and sound as if it was trying to mock the cat-eyes. But no, fear not, there was nothing ghostly about it. The owner of the cat-eyes was sleeping on a bunk bed, and the voice belongs to his inmate, who was sleeping below.

Hotaru stirred at his new nickname, given by his new friend, Chinmei, a former bank-robber (the name was supposed to be a sarcasm, as he was as skinny as chicken bones. But it does not matter, he would not get it anyway).

"Can't sleep, huh?" asked Chinmei.

"I wanna smoke…," answered Hotaru, sounding like a lost child. "But they won't let us have one, right?"

"Off course, silly," answered Chinmei coolly. "Gosh, you're so naïve, Fat Boy. If you were a girl, I definitely going to marry you."

Hotaru's eyes looked confused. "Why?"

Chinmei made this spitting-like noise. "Duh, Fat Boy! Why does everything seemed so difficult for you? Are you an idiot or something?"

"No," Hotaru answered. Everything then went silent again for a while, until Hotaru made this noisy sounds as he moved himself closer to the edge of his bunk-bed. Soon, his head could be seen hanging upside down, watching his inmate closely.

Chinmei looked as if he was going to have a heart attack.

"Do you have to do that!!?" he yelled. The policeman cough somewhere.

Chinmei then decided to sit and moved himself closer to Hotaru's hanging head. "What do you want!? If you got us into trouble, I'll kick your sorry, pitiful ass…."

"Hey, Chinmei. Do you think you'll ever get out of here?"

Chinmei made a mocking facial expression, but soon gave away his answers. "Do I think so? You don't think here, Fat Boy, you work it out. Work hard on your shift. Be nice to others. Find a good lawyer. You try, Fat Boy, you try."

He stared into another direction, looking slightly pissed. But then he return his focus back into Hotaru, and this time, his eyes had these strange, unexplainable glints on it. "How about you, Fat Boy? I mean…," the strange glints in his eyes became more obvious. "_You're not guilty_, are you?"

Hotaru's eyes widened. He then stared into another direction, his facial expression looked as if he was thinking hard. But then he return to Chinmei, lifted his eyebrows, and gave no answers.

Chinmei punched his own bed. "See!? This is what I don't understand about you, Fat Boy! You didn't even commit the crime!! Yet when they dragged you here and locked you up like this, you gave no reactions!"

He went silent, expecting to hear another cough from the policeman, but none came, so he decided to go on.

"Okay, maybe, they haven't found a way to prove your innocence… but still…," he continued, looking almost breathless. He then took another deep breath, and scratched his head.

"Unlike me," he said, staring into his toes. "Those stupid shoes. If only I didn't have to tie my lace at that moment… I wouldn't have to be here today."

He then lifted his head, and found Hotaru fell asleep, still in his upside-down position.

"Fat Boy!! Are you a bat or something!?"

"I'm not," Hotaru blinked his eyes open. "I was just thinking… and I think I'm going to get out of this place, soon. Yea. I'm sure of that. Just matter of time."

Chinmei's jaw dropped, his facial expression was a mixture of fear and worry. "W-what? You're… Fat Boy, this is so weird."

"Hey. Will you two shut up and go to sleep?" asked the policeman, suddenly appeared in front their cell.

xxxXXXxxx

It was half past midnight and Shiina Yuya found herself wide awake, staring into her computer screen. She was in her own bedroom, which she had inhabited since childhood, and she was hugging a bolster in shape of a gun, and wearing her favorite pink pajamas. Her smooth blonde hair was in "tired" mode.

She had been awaken by nothing, and had trouble to catch the sleep she had left behind. That is why she decided to get on the Net instead. At first she checked out her e-mails and her account in a social networking site, but there was nothing new and interesting there, so she decided to have a chat with Tora via her Messenger.

She knew well that Tora is an insomniac and would never refuse any chance to have a nice midnight chat with anybody, but minutes had passed and still no reply came (_Strange. Did he find a cure already?_). She was about to give up and check out another sites when suddenly, an unexpected person came up.

_Musicmafia174: never seen u awake on such a l8 hour ^^_

Yuya's smile grew and she gave a reply.

_Blonde_huntress: Akira!! Whazup? :D_

She clapped her hands excitedly and waited for a reply, which soon came.

_Musicmafia174: been doing gret, u? _

_Blonde_huntress: gret but I cant sleep rite now, sucks ~~ wat r u doin?_

_Musicmafia174: been writing songs in my studio. Geez we havnt met 4 such a long time :)_

_Blonde_huntres: yea got lotsa things 2 tell u!! abt Kyo, the P, everytg…_

_Musicmafia174: so lets meet up then… 2mrw?_

Yuya lifted her fingers away from her computer. She made a thinking look for a while. After making sure that her schedule for tomorrow is free, she made a positive reply.

The next day, Yuya could be seen sitting on a comfy leather couch in one of the most luxurious condominium block in the city. She was swaying her legs playfully and humming along, while checking out her surroundings.

Akira's place was a really warm, homey one. Even though it was pretty big, the furnishing was not as glamorous as she expected (_come on, it's one of the most expensive condo block here!_), and would definitely not going to the _Ideal Home_ section in her magazine (_he does not have any particular style in styling his place… just like everyone else's pad_), but she really like it and is considering to stay for a night here (_would it be a problem? There wouldn't be any paparazzi, right?_).

In front of the couch, there was this thick, soft carpet with large pillows on it. A plasma TV was hung on the wall in front of her, with a low bookshelf under it (Yuya had checked it out… he read Kurt Cobain's biography, Charles Dickens' works, and _manga_ series by Kamijyo Akamine). Akira's infamous iPod was attached to its loudspeaker, placed on top of the bookshelf. There were also some photo frames on it. On her right side, there was a balcony with a very nice night time view of the city and Tokyo Tower in the distance.

Outside the living room, there was the kitchen, where Akira had been busying himself making tea for his guest, and an alley which led to his bedroom, the toilet, and his studio. The entrance door was not far from the kitchen, and could easily be seen from the living room.

"So… how do you like my place?" asked Akira, walking out of the kitchen with two cups of tea.

"It's really nice… If I had enough savings, I'd definitely buy something like this… thanks," answered Yuya, receiving the cup Akira had handed to her.

"It's a good investment… so, what have you been doing?" Akira asked again as he placed himself comfortably on the couch.

"Nothing but becoming a bore," she answered shortly, blowing her drink softly.

"You didn't go to the office or something?" Akira asked, looking concerned.

"No… tried once, but they have found an intern to do my job while I was away, so there's not much that I can do…," she slurped her cup of tea. "How about you? You said yesterday you've been writing songs."

Akira's face gleamed with delight. "Yea! I've been trying to make some new sounds for the band…."

Suddenly both of them went quiet. The light in Akira's face disappeared, and Yuya took the cup of tea away from her lips.

Akira lifted his shoulders. "Well… um… at least if we ever got back together, I'd already have some stuffs," he said. "Even though… I had no idea if it could ever happened."

He then took a look at another direction. It seemed like he was not going to talk about it anymore, but Yuya was not going to drop the topic so easily.

"Are you still mad at Hotaru?"

Akira turned back at Yuya. "As mad as anyone can be."

Yuya felt as if a huge Swiss ball had been dropped into her stomach. She sighed. "Why?"

Akira took a deep breath. "Yuya, because of everything he had done, our life is in total mess right now… our tour got cancelled, we don't know if we could ever start it again… even Sanada just told me that one of our sponsors just backed out!"

"We used to have a really good, promising band, but right now our future is just…," he tried to find the right word to describe it. "… shaky."

He went silent again. His bright blue eyes now stares into his knee, looking so in despair. But it did not stop Yuya to voice her opinion.

"But… wouldn't it make more sense if you just learn to forgive him and figure out some ways to bail him out? If you really want the band to go on… then you'd better bail him out, so that he can continue to work with you guys…," she said.

"It's not that easy to forgive a guilty person. Let alone to bail him out just like that," Akira replied, still looking not happy.

Yuya bit her lips angrily. "I don't see why it's so hard to try to bail him out!? It's the most tangible solution you got! Kyo also said the same thing… I don't know what's…."

"Yea, you met Kyo! What did he said!?" Akira interrupted, his look changed completely at the mention of his prophet.

Yuya sighed. "Same as yours. No bail," she mumbled, while taking a sip. _You being stubborn and Kyo being complicated… maybe you two should consider about marriage_.

Akira gave a satisfied smile. "See! It's exactly what you should do! Even Kyo said so… he always do the right thing. Ha-ha!"

Yuya felt that maybe she should try to give the guy a kick or two, some other times.

For a few minutes, the two did nothing but to stare at each other. Yuya held her cup angrily, with her evil, I'm-going-to-kick-your-ass look in her face, while Akira had this cynical, trying-so-hard-not-to-laugh look while supporting his head with his hand, sitting very comfortably.

All of a sudden, the guy decided to pull it off. "Let's have some music!"

He then got into his feet and left the couch. At first Yuya thought that he was going to turn on his iPod, but he walked out of the living room instead. Curious, she stood up and followed him.

Akira then led her to the first door in the alley that led to his bedroom. With a smile, he opened the door and asked Yuya to come in.

She just cannot help to feel amazed as she felt the cold breeze of the room's air conditioning, and the view she met as soon as the lights were turned on. It was his recording studio, with this computer screen glowing brightly at a nearby table and all the necessary equipments for a recording process (she does not know their names and what exactly they do, but they seemed very complicated, sophisticated, and important). A guitar was placed on its stand near the table, but most importantly, exactly in the middle of the room, was this majestic-looking baby grand piano.

"So… this is where all the magic happened, isn't it?"

She made this interested, mumbling voice as she approached the beautiful thing, but as she got near, she lost all her words. The piano stood proudly, yet in some other way, it does not seem to contradict anything else in the room. In fact, they seemed to complement really well. And that smooth, slippery dark surface that tickles her palm as she touched it, and the way her face reflected in its glossy surface. Amazing!

"Play some songs!" Yuya said excitedly, clapping her hands.

Akira did not answered, instead he began to sit and try some notes. Then, the random hand-moves suddenly turned into a catchy opening of a song.

Her smile grew even wider. "Oh my God, this is so cool. Akira, of The Shiseitens, playing piano for me! In private."

"Consider it a service," Akira muttered. He then continued to play the song, which was supposed to be something classic, while Yuya watched him attentively, with her hands supporting her chin.

She really liked the look in Akira's face when he played his piano. In some more difficult parts, his facial expression seemed so serious, as if he tried hard not to make a mistake. But generally, it seemed like he really enjoyed himself when he plays, closing his eyes and banging his head slightly. There was this orgasmic feeling in it and Yuya thought that this must be the sight that had scored him tons of fan girls.

Gradually, the melody of the song had begun to change. "Oh. I know that one. You guys played it in that radio show."

"Yep, 'Ghosts'," Akira answered. "Anyway, how about this one? It's not ours, but it's really popular."

Yuya listened attentively. It was indeed familiar and she knew that some time in the past she had seen the video of the song, but she does not know the title. "Um… it's…."

"'Smells like teen spirit', Nirvana," Akira answered. "And it's Kyo's fave song. He often asked me to play it when we got nothing to do."

_Eek!_ _Him again. Duh._

"Anyway… Speaking of Kyo… he did stupid things again when I met him days ago," Yuya muttered, supporting her face with her fists.

"Hm?" Akira lifted his head. Yuya then told him about the infamous paper crown incident in that fast-food restaurant.

Akira actually had to stop playing so that he can take some time to laugh his ass off.

"Go on, keep on laughing. Go on. Veeery good," Yuya said, not even moving an inch.

"Oh God, it's hilarious. That's very stupid of you," said Akira. His laughter had started to fade a little bit, leaving these sobbing-like noises.

"Akira, if only I could stop him…," Yuya muttered, touching her forehead as if she was having a headache.

"But it makes me wonder… _do you have a crush on Kyo_?"

Yuya stopped all her movements. She lifted up her head slowly; Akira had stopped playing his piano, he was just sitting there, with his hands on his knees, waiting for Yuya's answer with this smile on his face. "I… what?"

Akira lifted up his shoulders. "I don't know! I just… I don't know, it's the impression that I got," he said. He then pointed at Yuya. "It's either you have a crush on Kyo… or Kyo has a crush on you."

Yuya opened her mouth widely, then she started to laugh. "A crush!? On Kyo!? Nonsense! How could I fall for… such creature!"

But the look in her face could not contradict more with what she had said. Her face looked totally confused; she started to sweat heavily, as if the air-conditioning was turned off. Her lips were trembling, as if struggling to find a word to say. And her eyes were the eyes of those who are not sure of the words they just said.

_Me… a crush?_

_On Kyo?_

Once again she shot a look at Akira. He did not say anything; he just sat there, his leg now folded, and he still had this confident smile on his face. It seemed like he had realized the look in Yuya's face, so he slowly lifted his shoulders, and said, "I don't know," still in this know-it-all smile.

Yuya quickly turned away from the guy. The music, the studio, Akira's presence, everything is now turning into a blur. Nothing was seen but the dark surroundings of her sub-conscious, and the hard pounding of her heart.

_Am I? Really?_

She closed her eyes and suddenly memories stroke her like a tsunami. They were played in front of her like a movie, and she could clearly see Kyo's face; when they first met. When he kissed those groupies in front of her. When he took pictures of her with his mobile phone. When he sat down with his laptop with a displeased look, shouting orders as he talked on the phone. When he puffs smokes from his cigarette. When he played his guitar on stage, with nothing to wear but this old, rugged jeans, sweating heavily. When he calmed Akira down on the night Hotaru got arrested. And more importantly, the scarlet glints in his eyes when hers accidentally met his.

She opened her eyes, and right before her heart gave an answer to her questions, someone's mobile phone rang.

"Oops, mine," Akira jumped to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving Yuya to ponder her new-found feelings.

"What do you want, bitch?" Akira's voice could be heard coming from the living room.

Yuya actually jumped at this rude remark. She then walked out of the room, still unable to believe that Akira would actually said something like that to a woman. "What's wrong, Akira?"

"It's Akari," answered Akira, lifting his iPhone away from his ear. "Hello? Nope, Yuya's here. What!? No, we didn't do anything! Stop being nosy!"

Somehow Yuya could imagine the look in Akari's face. She giggled and asked to talk to him.

"Yuya!! Oh my God, I can't believe this! What were you thinking! Oh, um… but do tell me, how's it like? Was he good? Hee-hee," these are the words that burst out of the phone.

"Akari. It's not like what you thought, silly," Yuya said, with an embarrassed smile in her face.

Akari went silent. "Oh. So… you guys didn't sleep together?"

"No, pervert!" Akira shouted.

"We're just having a laugh, nothing else," said Yuya.

"Hmm. Okay…," Akari muttered. "Laughter could led to something else, you know… Oh! Anyway! I got a great news!! Oh God… I'm so happy that I'm breathless now…."

"Let's just turned the loudspeaker on," Akira said. He took the phone away from Yuya and did some things to it, and soon, Akari's voice boomed into the air.

"Hotaru is going out of jail!!"


	6. Chapter VI: The Revelations

**Chapter VI: the Revelations**

"Right, and pigs can fly," Akira sighed, lifting both hands lightly.

Yuya moved the phone closer to her mouth. "Akari, is this serious?"

"People… I'm serious! Geez, seems like nobody believes that I can be serious… Sanada just called me seconds ago… Hotaru is going to be released from jail, tomorrow morning! That's why he asked me to call everyone, while he went to the airport, to take the first flight to Hokkaido…," Akari's voice came out from the phone's loudspeaker.

Yuya and Akira stared at each other, their facial expression clearly told that they still cannot accept this fact. Akira immediately moved the phone closer.

"Look, I don't get it. I thought we're not bailing him out? Or is there something that I don't know?" Akira asked, his hand on his hip, looking slightly pissed.

"Yes, Akari, why so sudden?" Yuya interrupted from behind Akira's shoulder.

"No, no, no! We didn't bail him out! He's released 'cause they've found a new evidence… like, a really strong one… and it proves that indeed, there's _another _ suspect other than him!"

Silence fell in to the room.

Yuya's jaw dropped. "Really!?"

"Yes! So right now he's no longer a suspect! His status is being changed into witness, they said… so that's why he's going to be released," Akari continued. Though it cannot be seen, but it seemed that he was smiling gladly when he said this.

"But what is this evidence? How come it became so strong?" Yuya's instinct as a journalist just will not let it go easily.

"Um… don't know. Sanada didn't tell me…," Akari answered.

Yuya lifted her head, and her sight immediately fell into Akira, who was standing in front of her. He was holding his iPhone but it seemed like his mind was not really there; he stared blankly at it and his lips looked doubtful.

"Akari… does this mean that Hotaru is innocent?" he finally asked.

"Yup! See, told ya before…," Akari answered cheerfully. "Yuya, isn't it amazing? He's finally going to be released! I'm so grateful…."

Minutes went by since Akari ended up their conversation, yet Yuya still stood there, motionless, clutching Akira's phone dearly in front of her chest. She did not say a word, but the look in her face was the look of someone who just had all her dreams came true. Full of joy, she sighed, and turned herself towards Akira. "Isn't this a great news?"

But her smile faded as she found him sitting on the edge of the couch, hugging his own legs. He looked restless. And when he lifted his hand to scratch his head, Yuya got this impression that he was going to rip it apart.

She moved closer to the guy as soon as possible. "Are you okay?" asked Yuya, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Yuya, all these times, he wasn't guilty…," he muttered. His hands was trembling when Yuya touched them.

Yuya shook her head, stared at him with glassy eyes.

"And I… I actually want him to stay there! Gosh, I was such a jerk…," he covered his face with his hands, looking desperate. Yuya immediately pulled him in to her hug.

"I don't even know the truth…," his voice became weaker.

Yuya rubbed his back lovingly. "Ssst… calm down, Akira! You didn't know it…."

She moved herself away from him. "It's okay to make mistakes when you don't know… but now, you've known the truth, right?"

He slowly nodded. "But I still can't believe it… What kind of friend am I…. Gosh, I feel horrible!"

His words were silenced as she pulled him into her hug again. "Ssst… say no more!"

Yuya slowly whispered to his ear. "Now you know why I always insist on bailing him out, right? I always had these feelings…."

"Honey, I'm home!"

There was a sound of a door being opened hastily, followed with the sound of it being slammed. With a start, Akira lifted his head. Yuya also turned her head to the direction of the entrance door.

Standing in front of the door, was this stunningly pretty young girl. She carried a guitar case on one hand, which she then put on the floor, and Akira's home keys on the other hand. The clothes that she wore was this long-sleeved, stripy black-and-white T-shirt, with matching black vest and some long necklaces. She also had a very short jeans, which complemented really well with her long legs, and a dirty, old white Converse. Her short blonde hair was messy, but looked great on her, and she had these dark-colored make-up on her eyes.

When she got in and found out that her boyfriend was sitting in the couch, hugging a girl that she does not know, her first reaction was to bawl her eyes out. Then she took a deep breath, and even Kyo's ancestors would realize that it would be much better to stay away.

"What are you doing?" she asked, dropping her heavy backpack on the floor.

Akira quickly got up, and moved into her direction. "Look, I can explain… It's not like what you think…"

"Then what is it!?"

"Um…," Akira looked dead-confused. His hands were on his head, looking as if he was going to rip it apart. "You see…."

"Yes, I see it! I was working my ass off, performing in a live house, in such a late hour… while you stay at home, hugging a slut!"

"Don't call her a slut…!"

The two soon got into a horrible fight. Yuya, feeling guilty and ashamed, soon grabbed her things away and walked out of the living room, intending to leave Akira's place. "Um, gotta go. Bye, thanks, Akira."

"No! Yuya! Wait!" Akira pulled her hand, trying to stop her from going, as she opened the door to leave.

"I've to go, Akira!" she sobbed, pulled her hand away, and ran as fast as she could.

"Yuya! No…."

"Hey! I'm not done yet!" Tokito yelled, pulling Akira back into the house.

Yuya made her brother confused when she arrived into the house by refusing to explain why she came home with tears on her eyes. She then slammed her bedroom door shut, throw away her futon on the floor, and cries the night away.

_I can't believe this… we finally got Hotaru out of jail, but why this has to happened? _

_I feel so bad… bet I've got Akira into trouble…_

Her sobbing went even louder as these thoughts came in to her head.

_Why do these guys could never get themselves out of trouble?_

The night grew on while she cried herself away.

xxxXXXxxx

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep_

Tenro barked as it heard these noisy sounds coming from his owner's Blackberry. He ran around the squeaky clean wooden floor, trying to get the attention of his owner, and when he realize his effort was useless, he took the liberty to jump into his owner's bed, and made an even greater effort to wake him up.

The wolf-like dog licked Kyo's sleeping face. The guy soon groaned, and stirred himself in his sleep, trying to get away from the dog's lickings.

"Tenro. Stop it."

The dog barked, and tried to bite one of the many pillows that was put randomly around Kyo's body. But luckily Kyo managed to pull the pillow away before it turned into a feathery mess.

"I'll kill you!"

The dog barked once again, a rather desperate one this time, and Kyo finally realized that his phone was ringing. He soon picked it up, and began to talk, with his eyes still closed.

"Yes…?"

"_Kyo!"_

His eyes soon blinked open. At first, there was this surprised look on his face. Then, slowly the look changed into a smirk. Or was it a smile?

"So. How's it going?"

"Not bad. Just had breakfast. Akari made it for me."

"Really… so, he stayed to accompany you?"

"Yeah. Everyone's here."

This time Kyo actually smiled. He scratched his head lazily. "Okay. I'll be there soon."

"Alright, Kyo."

He then hung up, and put his phone on his bed. Sighing, he watched his surrounding lazily. Then he got up, kicked this dark grey duvet that has been covering his naked body from below his chest, and left his bed.

He walked around in his super luxurious, trendy, minimalist-styled bedroom, and stopped before his working desk, where his laptop and two blocks of black-colored candles were. There was also this water jug, that looked like the ones in hotel suites, and he poured the contents in to a glass. After a sip, he sighed, and carried the glass to the window.

He was soon greeted by the sight of another apartment building which located on the other side of the street. A young lady, who was having her breakfast in front of the window of her apartment, immediately fainted at the sight of a nude Kyo. Of course, Kyo did not care, it was not his fault if he was so good-looking. So he just took another gulp from his glass, and continued to stare at the street below.

"So… after all… we were right. _I_ was right."

He smiled in satisfaction and finished the contents of his glass.

Hotaru just ended up his conversation with Kyo, and he threw his mobile phone to this bed behind him that he used to lean his body on. A scream was soon heard. "Hotaru!! Would you be careful with that!? It hit me!"

"Really?" was his simple answer.

Akari laughed. "Oh… two days out of jail and Ho-chan had returned to his usual manner!"

With a proud look in his face, Hotaru wrapped his body with a blanket, and curled himself on the floor. Everyone soon laughed at this child-like behavior.

It was only two days after Yuya received the news of Hotaru's release from jail, and right now everyone is gathering in Hotaru's apartment, ready for celebration and maybe some catch-ups. Even though Hotaru's apartment is in Western style, but all of them had to sit on the floor, as Hotaru had nothing in his place but a large unmade bed, his bass guitar completed with its amplifier, an acoustic guitar, and a television set. So they set up a circle right in front of his bed, with him as the center of the attention, while Bon tried to have a taste of his bed by laying on it (which resulted in him got hit by a flying mobile phone).

"So, Hotaru… please, do tell us… how did you get out of jail? I almost die of curiosity," Kosuke said, looking very hopeful.

Sanada lit his cigarette. "Oh, it's a story of Christmas miracles."

"Duh. Spring's just started. Christmas was like… half a year away, if I'm not mistaken," Sasuke, Hotaru's sound technician, replied with this sulky look in his face.

"Hey, don't tell me that you're not sure when Christmas is," Bon shouted.

"I do know when Christmas is!" Sasuke crossed his hands in front of his chest.

"Oh yeah?" Bon got up slowly. "So, when is it?"

"It… it's still many months from now!" Slowly, Sasuke started to blush.

Bon made this scary, screeching laugh. "What month is it exactly, boy?"

"Come on, guys… this is stupid," Akari muttered, munching on pizza_s_, while Yuya, who sat beside him, ROFLHAO. "And you… what's with that laugh?"

"I… can't help it… it's damn funny!" Yuya continued to burst with her laughter. _Ah… these guys. Always a great fun to be with._

_Unfortunately…_

She took a look around, and loses her laughter. Because not exactly everyone was there.

Kyo just woke up when Hotaru called him, but he said he is going to come, so there is no problem with him. But Akira…

Yuya rubbed her cheek sadly as she thinks of him. Everyone had tried to contact him, but he was unavailable. Which means he was the only one who is absent today, and it really gave Yuya the image that he was still disturbed by the Hugging incident. Or maybe even… Hotaru's release.

"Guys, do you wanna hear a great story?"

Hotaru got up, waving his blanket in a Superman-like manner. Everyone clapped and cheered, shouting, "He's going to tell the story of his release! Listen up!"

He then walked to the center of the circle with his flat, emotionless look. When he got there, he asked everyone a question, "So. Do you guys know what a sissy TV is?"

Everyone went silent. A snail could be seen moving slowly on the background.

"A sissy TV?" Yuya asked, looking confused. Her sorrow for not having Akira around soon disappeared into the air.

Hotaru nodded confidently.

"An electric version of Akari!" said Bon cheerfully, which soon replied by a kick by the said person.

"No, no… wrong!" Hotaru replied, waving his hands impatiently. "It's a kind of camera… people usually hang it on the wall, in crowded places… and it recorded everything that happened in that place."

Once again, everyone went silent. This time, a turtle could be seen in the background.

Yuya clapped her hands. "It's CCTV! Right!?"

The room soon filled with these angry voices, yelling at Hotaru ("Idiot! A sissy TV!? Go see a speech therapist!"). But as usual, he decided not to care, and go on with his story.

"So, one night, I ran out of Marlboros… so I decided to go to the ATM, to get some money. And my pocket was filled with money afterwards, lots of them. I went to a _konbini_ to get my Marlboro, and a bag of chips for Yuya, and a can of Red Bull for Bon…."

Yuya lifted her eyebrows, realizing that he was talking about the night he got arrested.

"After that, I tried to get back to hotel. But I got lost. I was walking in a neighborhood, lots of houses around me. I continued to walk. But I was hungry, so I ate Yuya's chips and drank Bon's Red Bull," he continued.

"Great, thanks for the info," Bon muttered.

Hotaru took a deep breath. "Then, I heard the sounds of broken glass."

This time, everyone actually held their breath, listening attentively.

Hotaru nodded. "Yes, it came from a house beside me. So I checked it out…," Hotaru explained with his hands moving around, being very dramatic. "The walls were really high, so I go to the front entrance… jump over the gate…," he actually imitated the way he did it that time. "And go to the backyard… and found…."

Another deep breath from the crowd.

"A man," Hotaru continued. "Covered in black. And he had a mask on his face, only his eyes could be seen. And he carried… like… a big bundle. And he was climbing the wall. To escape from the house."

In the most dramatic way, Hotaru exclaimed, "_He was the robber_!"

"Okay. But how come you end up being the suspect then?" Bon asked critically.

"Stealing is bad, Bon," Hotaru replied, very matter-of-factly. "When someone's steal, other should stop him and gave him away to the police. So I tried to catch him… and I even tried to climb the wall. But the wall, you see, is covered with leaves."

"Oh… you mean… it had some kind of plants grow on it?" asked Tora.

"Yes! Yes… and my foot got stuck in it," Hotaru continued. "I tried to set it free… but the robber had already escaped. And that's when I heard someone screamed."

"Let me guess. That Shinrei guy," Akari said confidently.

"Correct! That shrewd with weird hairdo. He screamed at me, telling me that I was a robber… and he pulled my leg. I fell, and we rolled on the ground. And then he sat on top of me. And called the police from his mobile phone."

"Um… wait! Hotaru, I think your story is… great. Fantastic. But I failed to see the link between this story and… you know, the sissy TV," Tora interrupted.

Everyone soon stated their opinion, agreeing that the story had nothing to do with a CCTV. Meanwhile, Yuya sat with her head down, her facial expression looked as if… she just had a sudden epiphany.

She lifted up her head. "Hotaru… don't tell me, all of these scenes are recorded in a CCTV!?"

Hotaru lifted up his hand, and pointed at Yuya. "That's right!"

"And you're being released 'cause they've found a copy of the video… and it revealed that it wasn't you who did the robbery, and that you actually tried to stop the real suspect!?"

Hotaru's jaw dropped, and he had this surprised look in his face. "Y-yes… That's true… Geez. You're so smart, Yuya. No wonder you went to university!"

Just when Yuya almost jump to slap Hotaru, Sanada put off his cigarette, and finish the whole story. "So… it turns out that Mr. Shinrei's neighbor, the one who lives right behind his house… had a set of CCTV installed on his house. And one of the camera directly faces Shinrei's backyard. And it clearly shows how a ninja jump into his backyard, broke his windows, did some things inside… and came out with a bundle."

"It also revealed that when the ninja tried to climb the wall to escape, there was this skinny little guy running into the backyard. This guy, he was wearing a red hooded sweater, and he looked stunned when he saw the ninja…."

"I wasn't stunned," Hotaru interrupted, pouting.

"Okay, the ninja was also stunned," Sanada corrected. "Then little red riding hood bravely tried to stop the ninja, but he failed. And ended up being accused of the robbery. Luckily, the cops managed to laid their hand on a copy of the videos."

Everyone went silent at Sanada's explanations.

"Well, it makes sense now. That way, it's easy to think that Hotaru was the one who did it," Tora said.

"Yes… especially with the fact that he had exactly the same amount of money with the one being stolen, 'cuz he just returned from the ATM… remember I told you that?" Sanada said, pointing at Tora. Then he lifted both of his hands, and confetti started to fly around him. "But now everything's cleared and we have our bassist back!"

Sanada's smile was so big at this moment that everyone started to have crystals on their eyes. Akari was the one with the loudest sob.

"Hotaru!" he yelled and hugged the guy. "You… you nasty kid! You made Auntie Akari so damn worried!"

"Stop it, you disgusts me," Hotaru replied, but soon regretted it when Akari strangled him.

Yuya shook her head. "You, Hotaru. Everyone is dead-worried for you."

Akari suddenly turned her head into Yuya's direction. "But Yuya… didn't I tell you before…. Hotaru always managed to get out of troubles! So he would always be fine…."

Yuya gave away her warmest, most beautiful smile, which ended only when Kyo came of bottles of beer, and the day ended with an unplanned, wild party.


	7. Chapter VII: The Saplings

**First of all, allow me to start this new chapter with an apology.**

**Yes, I know it's crazy to leave a story hanging around with no update for more than a year. I'm not gonna make excuses - I just lost my inspirations and I thought I could never finish this story.**

**But yeah, without any further ado, here we go...**

**Chapter VII: The Saplings**

Yuya got home took out all the formal wears she got, laid them in the floor neatly and tried them all, one by one.

She just received a call from Kyo, and they are going for a business dinner to discuss the next steps of their collaboration. Kyo is proposing to go to Le Rouge, a fancy restaurant in a five-star hotel somewhere downtown, and had mockingly remind her to dress up ("I don't expect to see your ruggy look in a posh restaurant").

She had decided to wear this red number with plunging backline, until her brother Nozomu, who happened to walked passed her bedroom, suddenly stopped and said to her, "Hey, you're going on a date! Who's the lucky guy?"

Terrified by idea of looking as if she was going on a date with Kyo, she immediately took it off and went back to her collection to search for something serious. Finally, she decided to wear a little black dress with gold-colored high heels, completed with golden charm bracelets and matching black clutch bag. Perfect.

At five o'clock, Yuya believed that she was almost ready to go to the business dinner. She had taken a nice hot shower, had her hair done (she decided to let it loose, and had used a crimping iron to make it proper) and was doing her make-up at the moment. After this, she is going to take off this old denim shirt and boxer pants that she was wearing, and replace it with her chosen dress. She could already picture herself walking casually down the streets of Tokyo, with one of the most glamorous French restaurant as her destination.

Suddenly, someone knocked the door (it must be Nozomu, there's no one else in the house).

"Yes…?"

"Your date's here."

Yuya was going to apply her lipstick, but then took it away from her lips. "But I don't have a date. I'm going by myself." _Like, seriously._

"But there's this guy downstairs, waiting for you. Why don't you come out and see him first."

Looking totally confused, she finished applying her lipstick and ran out of her room.

_Could it possibly be…_

_But it couldn't be! That would be too… miraculous…_

xxxXXXxxx

Yuya immediately rushed to the living room, where the so-called date was said to be in. When she slide the door open, she found this guy with messy strawberry-blonde hair, wearing a dark blue Adidas windbreaker, a black T-shirt, and jeans, sitting neatly on the _tatami_, watching the view outside the window.

"Akira!"

He turned his head to Yuya's direction, and gave a cheerful smile. "Yuya!"

"What a surprise…," said Yuya, sitting beside him. "What's going on? Did you come here all by yourself?"

"Yup," he answered. But then his smile faded as he realized that Yuya had her make-up on.

"Are you going somewhere? Is this a right time to visit?"

"Oh, umm… I'm going to a business dinner tonight at Le Rouge. With Kyo. But it's okay! I still have, like, half an hour," Yuya answered, waving her hands.

"Okay, I'm not going to take much time then… I'll just said it and leave," Akira said hastily.

"Please, what's going on?" Yuya asked. "Where were you yesterday?"

Akira sighed. "Well… that's it. Lotsa things happened."

Yuya's smile faded. She put her hand on Akira's shoulder. "Are you okay? I'm really worried for you…," she said.

"Umm… how about your girlfriend? Gosh, I'm so sorry for what happened…."

"Well. We broke up yesterday."

Yuya felt as if her heart was stabbed.

"Oh my God… Akira… I'm so sorry…."

Akira gave a sad smile, lifting his shoulders slowly. "It's alright. It's… inevitable."

"But… it wouldn't happened if it wasn't because of me!"

Yuya's voice had started to shake, and crystals had started to form in her eyes.

"No, no… Yuya, you see…," said Akira. He hesitated for a while, but then he put his hands on her shoulder. "It's not your fault. Seriously."

"How could you say so?"

Unable to contain it anymore, her tears broke and she started to cry, while Akira pulled her into his hug.

xxxXXXxxx

"Yuya, please listen."

_Sniffs._

"Yuya…."

Akira let go of her and tried to managed eye contact with her, who has crying heavily. "Yuya. Listen up. I'm going to be honest here…."

"I can't denied the fact that… well, me and Tokito got into a fight because of… what we did. When you hugged me in my place."

Her sobbing went even louder.

"And yes, we can't blame her for thinking what she thought. It's natural. But, you see…."

He put his hands around her face. "I just want you to know that I didn't blame you for it, and I don't want you to blame yourself."

Yuya tried to wipe her tears away. "Why?"

"I mean, what happened to my relationship with her… It's just inevitable," Akira sighed. "I just can't stop that from happening. I don't know how to explain it to her. But you… I'm not going to put you to blame. For by the time, you were doing the right thing, to help me."

"I helped you?"

"Of course!" Akira answered cheerfully. "Don't you remember how terrible I was? But because of all that you did, I felt much better. And I got to see my issues in a much better perspectives. You know, the one with Hotaru going out of jail."

Yuya took a deep breath, still refusing to look at him in the eyes. "So… you're not mad at me?"

"Yuya, because of what we did, I do lost something important in my life," Akira answered, wiping the tears that flowed down her cheek. "But in the other hand, I also gained something really important. So I'm not going to be mad at you."

Yuya looked confused. "But what is this something?"

Akira smiled. "I've made up with Hotaru."

Yuya's eyes widened. "You did!"

"Yes! Went up to his place today…," he fixed his sitting position. "Was too drunk to even remember me. But I told him anyway about how I felt about him going to jail. I also told him that I've said many bad things about him… then I apologized. And we're good."

"Seriously?"

"Did you know that when the party started later that afternoon, I was waiting outside of his apartment?"

"You did! So why didn't you join us!"

"I chose not to, 'cuz I was going to talk about something serious, and I might ruin the party mood, so…," Akira answered.

Yuya took a deep breath. "I'm glad you did."

"Yeah. Could never done it without you," he said, smiling.

Yuya reached out her hand to pat his shoulder, and it stayed there for a few moments. With tears still running down her cheek, Yuya gave her proud smile to the guy, who replied by massaging the hand on his shoulder gently.

Until suddenly her gaze fell into a clock hanging on the wall.

"Oh my God!"

"What! What's going on!" Akira yelled, looking around.

"I'm late!" Yuya answered, getting up hastily. "I should be going already!"

"Seriously? Oh God… I'm sorry…," Akira said, with this guilty look in his face.

Yuya put her hands on her cheek. "I haven't change! And my make-up! Oh… this is bad…."

Amidst her panic, she started to ran around the room, as if not knowing what to do ("Oh my God! What should I do! I can't walk that fast, I was planning to do it slowly!"), while Akira just stood there, watching her running around with a thinking look.

"I'll take you there."

Yuya froze. "Seriously?"

"Yes! _Le Rouge_, right? It's not that far from where I live. And I can go fast, I assure you."

Yuya took a deep breath, looking much relieved. "Oh… thank you very much. But what are we going to go by? Do you bring your car?"

xxxXXXxxx

In less than an hour, Shiina Yuya found herself clutching tightly and helplessly to Akira's waist while he rode his bicycle in an unbelievable, almost god-like speed.

"Do you do this all the time!" Yuya yelled, trying to get her voice heard amidst the speed.

"Yes!" Akira answered. "You know, the whole green-lifestyle thingy!" he was smiling cheerfully when he said this.

"Good for you…."

"Excuse me!"

"_Good for you_, Akira! You know, to be ecologically friendly!"

"Thanks!"

It was not that Yuya opposed the idea of environmentalism, really. Or even the idea of riding a bicycle. It was just that she never expected to do it while going to the most glamorous restaurant in town, which equal to her wearing a fancy dress with full make-up on. Completed with those heels.

She had been struggling to make sure that her dress does not reveal more than it should, while her other hand tried hard to hang on to her partner. Apart from that, Akira also insisted that she should be the one who uses the helmet, which is a threat to her then super sleek hair. And she just cannot bear thinking about her make-up, all messed up by the speed of the wind. And her heels, which felt very uncomfortable for her feet. Boo-hoohoo.

"So what are you going to talk about with Kyo!" asked Akira, slightly turning his head to Yuya's direction.

"As usual, the… CAREFUL!" she yelled when Akira almost hit an old lady passing by. "…the Project…."

"That's great! So it's not going to stop, right! That's a great news…."

"Yes, of course…."

"But who picked the place!"

"Sorry?"

"Who picked the place! Was it you?"

"Of course it was Kyo…."

"Really! That's unusual…."

Yuya tried to keep a strand of hair away from her face. "Unusual! Why?"

"Yeah! It's unusual, you know…," Akira answered. Somehow, though she cannot see it, Yuya got the impression that he was smiling confidently when he said it. "Anyway, do you know that…."

Now she could only wished that Akira would stop talking amidst the speed and the loud noises.

xxxXXXxxx

"Isn't this great? We manage to get here on time!"

They were already in front of Le Rouge, which located in a posh, old building from the early 20th century, right in the middle of the city. Akira was still on his bicycle, playing around with his helmet, smiling gladly with the fact that he had managed to drop Yuya in this place in a record- breaking time. Meanwhile, Yuya was leaning herself to the restaurant's large window, trying hard not to vomit. And yes, her hair was messy.

"Yes… umm… that's… very great…," Yuya muttered, her steps were wobbly when she tried to walk.

Akira smiled. "So, you better get going. It's almost seven. Kyo hates tardiness."

"Oh. Right. Um…."

Before she realized it, Yuya was already standing closely to Akira. She was massaging her own hands, but a little smile started to grow on her face. "Thanks for the ride, Akira."

"No problem," Akira answered. He pointed to Yuya's hair. "Uh… sorry for that."

"It's alright, I'll just fix it before I got inside…," Yuya replied, combing her hair with her fingers.

Akira took a deep breath, and prepared himself to go. "Okay. Good luck for the date!"

_Eeek!_

"It's not a date!"

"Yeah, right. Pigs fly, Yuya! Pigs fly."

With a smile, the blonde guy started to ride his bicycle, leaving Yuya to get irritated by his comments.

xxxXXXxxx

Yuya had fixed her hair, and was finally able to walk into the restaurant with her dignity on.

As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted warmly by a waitress ("Good evening, Ma'am.") and my, how she enjoyed the feeling. Classical music was in the air, and as she walked on, guided by the waitress, her gaze fell into the sight of well-respected ladies and gentlemen, all dressed up to the nines, enjoying plates of _foie gras_, while a waiter was standing nearby, offering them the best of their champagne collection.

She was just thinking about how beautiful those wine-colored curtains are when they finally arrived at the corner of the restaurant, on a table for two near the window. And Yuya's gaze fell to the direction of the man who sat there.

He was wearing black suit and tie, but something in him gave him an aura of a certain kind of rebelliousness, like those of a rock star. Perhaps it was because even though he dressed up neatly, his hair was still a bit messy, and his skin color gave an air of mystery on him. While Yuya stood there, watched him silently, he was gazing out of the window, supporting his head with his hand, watching the view of the sleepless city with a pensive mood.

He finally turned his head into her direction, and there was these scarlet glints on his eyes when he did.

Yuya had read tons of novels on vampires, and had seen how the creatures had always been described as a seductive beauty. Perhaps this is what those authors are talking about.

"Oh. Dogface. I'm glad you came," he said, with this infamous smirk on his face.

"Yes, thank you for the invitation. But please, no Dogfaces. It's inappropriate," Yuya replied, while the waitress pulled a chair for her to sit on.

"Whatever, that's not what we are going to talk about here," Kyo muttered, waving his hand.

Soon, the menu was given to Yuya and she could not be any happier when she read those lists of culinary masterpieces. _Oh… they have escargots! I'm so going to try it…_

"One escargot for me, please…," Yuya asked the waitress politely.

"_No."_

With an angry look, she slapped the menu shut. "Excuse me?"

"No, miss, cancel that escargot. We'll have… two _fillet mignon_ and the soup of the day…," Kyo muttered, while the waitress wrote down everything that he said.

"Kyo, I'm having that escargot…."

He did not answered. Instead, he shot a look at the waitress and asked, "Do you have Shiraz? Good, I'll have one."

Then the waitress left without giving Yuya a chance to ask for her escargots, leaving her enraged with the fact that she would not be on her side in this never-ending battle with the devil in suit.

"Why can't I have the food that I want?"

Kyo stared at her with this disgusted look. "Those slimy mollusks? You gotta be kidding…."

Yuya waved her hands angrily. "Look, it's not about me wanting to eat them, okay?"

Kyo laughed. "Yeah, right."

"Kyo, I know you invited me, but at least I had my chance to pick my own food? I know you're such a control-freak, but please… you don't have to control that much…."

As Yuya bombarded him with her protests, about how he would never listened to other people's needs and opinion, Kyo bowed his beautiful head down. He shook it slowly, his hand was on his forehead, and he suddenly lifted up his head and said, "Look, can we just stop this kinda conversation? It's boring and my grandma even sounds better than you now…."

Yuya almost grab her glass of water to punish him for being so obnoxious, but, hey, was she hallucinating when she saw sadness in his eyes when he said it?

As if he was really saddened by her words. As if he did not see her as an ass, but more like… he did not feel comfortable having fights with her.

But surely Kyo, of The Shiseitens, the rock-star-slash-ambitious-businessman, does not have time to be sad over a girl like her?

"Um… okay. Let's just start… the business talk, okay?" Yuya asked, clumsily.

He nodded slowly, still looking unlike himself. "Good. Thanks."

The soup was then delivered to their table, and Yuya was relieved to realize that the sight of soup bowls being put on the table made a really good distraction for both of them. She can finally reboot and began another conversation.

"So… how's the band? What are you guys planning to do now?"

Kyo gave away his infamous smile. "Well, we've finally to continued the tour, starting ASAP. Next two months would be the latest. And we're going to do it with a bang."

"A bang?" Yuya suddenly thought of science class and how the universe was started.

"Like… a secret gig, TV appearance or a surprise visit to fans. Something shocking, big, something that'll attract media attention," Kyo answered. There was this strange fire in his eyes as he speaks. "And while the viewers are still dazed by our sudden appearances… we're going to tell the world that we're back. And better than ever."

Yuya tried to weighed in the idea in her mind. "Hm… something shocking, huh… like streaking down the streets of Shibuya?"

"Streaking… that would be great," Kyo muttered.

Yuya stared in horror at the thought of informing Akira about this idea.

"And that's where YOU come in!"

Yuya actually moved a few inches apart with her chair.

"I'm not taking part in a streak!" she yelled.

"Easy, Dogface, nobody wants to see you naked either!"

Yuya breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled her chair back.

"What I'm trying to say is…," Kyo had began his sermon again. "As soon as our plans started to become real… you're going to start working. Write the book again."

He gave a satisfied smile. "That would be a perfect conclusion to this never-ending surprises from us to the fans."

Yuya nodded. "Cool. I'm going to start working then. Anyway, should I include Hotaru's arrests in it?"

"Sure. Nothing's better than an insider's look," Kyo answered, nodding gracefully. "Anyway, please, help yourself."

He then picked up a spoon and began eating.

Yuya was enjoying her bowl of hot soup until suddenly she felt herself being flashed with camera lights.

Her spoon was soon dropped. "Could you please stop that, Kyo?"

She lifted up her head, expecting to find Kyo playing around with his Blackberry, taking pictures of her devouring her dinner. But she found him staring at her dumbly, his eyebrows raised. "Stop what?"

Another flash of light appeared. This time, Yuya saw that it actually came from her side. She turned her head, and almost swallowed her own face at the sight that appeared outside the window.

Paparazzi were everywhere.

They had their camera on, completed with their huge, long lens, that reminds Yuya of an ant-eating creature. Some of them carried microphones, and were banging the window, as if they would get to interview Kyo by doing so.

Yuya could not never get herself used to this sight.

"Kyo! They...," she yelled.

"Sssh! Pretend you dont see them," Kyo whispered, continued on enjoying his bowl of soup. "Once you look at their directions, they're gonna get heated up."

"But...!"

"Yuya!" Kyo yelled. "It's me that they're after. Not you."

Yuya shut her mouth up, still looking as if she was going to cry.

"So chill! Okay?" Kyo said, picking up his spoon.

But his words did not managed to calm her down. So he lifted up his hand, called a waiter, and asked, "Can I speak to the manager?"

The next hour, Yuya found herself walking in a seemingly endless maze of kitchen wares and hotel laundry.

The situation outside of the restaurant did not get any better; she and Kyo had to finish their dinner in a hurry, because the number of paparazzi outside are getting bigger. They bang the windows loudly, yelling, asking for interview ("Kyo! Is this your new girlfriend?"), and the other guests in the restaurant are starting to get disturbed they began to leave one by one. Before the worst happened, Kyo finally called for the restaurant's manager, and they finally managed to be escorted out of the restaurant –through the back door.

"Here we are…," said the restaurant manager, opening up an emergency door, and Yuya felt cold wind blowing to her face. It seems like the back door lead directly to the parking lot. "Take care of yourself, Mr. Kyo. And you too, Miss."

"Thanks, " Kyo muttered, patting the manager's shoulders. "Let's go," he pulled Yuya's hand and off they ran across the parking lot, looking for Kyo's black Mercedes jeep.

"Gosh! They just wouldn't stop, would they?"

Yuya pressed her hands against the car's window, amazed at the measures the paparazzi took to get their pictures. Outside she could see motorbikes swooping by, its rider managed to take a picture or two amidst the speed. One motorbike slipped and its rider was actually hitting the asphalt now. Yuya clasped her cheeks with her hands. "Oh my God! Should we stop!"

"Let them be!" Kyo replied. He had to struggle to focus on his driving, while a paparazzi outside continued to take his pictures with blinding flashlight. "Their own risk… we've nothing to do with that…"

The traffic lights suddenly turned red, and Kyo muttered swear words as he had to stop his car. The motorbikes all stopped around his car –one paparazzi actually stood in front his car, blocking his way – and the flashlights are so bright it was almost like daylight.

Kyo shook his head. Yuya gave an understanding smile.

She lifted her hand to touch his shoulder to comfort him, but fearing how the paparazzi might react, she hesitated and pull her hand away. "I feel you. It's never easy, isn't it?"

"Part of the package," Kyo sighed. He quickly made a move as the traffic turned green, and honking loudly to the paparazzi who were blocking his way.

As the car continued to speed up, Yuya finally managed to say the thing that had been on her mind. "I'm actually amazed with how… how well you deal with them."

Kyo smirked. "Why? You expect me to go gaga and shot them with AK-47?"

"Exactly!" Yuya inched away from her chair, her excitement returned. "When they found out that we left the restaurant through the back door, I thought we gonna end up spending the night in jail like Hotaru!"

Kyo laughed so hard that Yuya was able to see his throat. "Geez Dogface, your imagination is wild! You should write a novel!"

Embarrassed, this time Yuya managed to laugh together with him.

"Well, all that matters is that…," Kyo continued, after his laughter had fade away. "They get what they want, yes they may. But I'd also get what I want."

Yuya's smile faded. "Eh? I don't get it."

The car slowed down as it reached another traffic light. "Well… it means, sometimes I just don't care!"

Another round of flashlights started to appear around them as the car stopped. Kyo turned his head into Yuya's direction. "You know how I am. When I want it, I go for it. No matter how weird it is."

Yuya felt a strange jolt in her stomach.

"And I know you want it as well," Kyo whispered. Yuya suddenly realized that his head was a bit closer to hers.

"Eh?"

"Never mind them," Kyo whispered, and ended the conversation with a long deep kiss.

It was the first time Yuya ever had a kiss under the blinding lights of publicity.


End file.
